


Trick and Treat

by GintaxAlvissforever



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Cannibalism, Child Suicide, Demonic Possession, Evil Twins, F/M, Force-Feeding, Gorn, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Pedophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 17:10:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2589560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GintaxAlvissforever/pseuds/GintaxAlvissforever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Est goes missing, Trip's aunt begs Ash and co to help her search for the little witch who went missing in a haunted mansion known for the gruesome tales that surround the deserted place. Cilan already knows things aren't going to go well from the Litwick experience but two is a charm...right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death Comes to Those Who Seek It

**Author's Note:**

> I'm basing Ash's age for the five regions he's went to: Kanto, Orange Island, Hoenn and Sinnoh so the ages in this story are…
> 
> Ash: 15
> 
> Iris: 13-16
> 
> Cilan: 17-18
> 
> Dawn: 11
> 
> Trip: 10
> 
> Paul: 16
> 
> Est: 20
> 
> Ilyana: 23
> 
> Virtue: 24
> 
> Alma: 12 (at time of death)
> 
> Alastor: 12 (at time of death)
> 
> Dusk: 16 (17 at time of death)
> 
> Darlene 16 (17 at time of death)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was once an old tale in Undella Town where a pair of twins committed suicide because of one whose love wasn't returned and the other that was paranoid of betrayal. These twins haunt the mansion on Route 14 and will kill anyone that tries to disturb them. That's only a myth of course. Est wanted to investigate the mansion theory due to her love for the occult but winds up missing and Ilyana being injured. Ash and the group decide to help Trip search for Est who is trapped in the mansion unaware of the horrors that are inside.

He didn't realize that he was running away from the truth…or was he running away from his illusions. He didn't know anymore whether to trust his heart or to trust his only family, but he definitely saw it. He saw his beloved cheat on him with that whore. Like his twin sister, he was all alone with no one to turn to.

"Al…will you join me…" He heard his sister whisper.

Looking at the top of the stairs, he saw his sister with two ropes in her hand. Her white hair shown in the darkness of the mansion with her piercing red eyes gazing at her precious twin brother.

"We don't have much time…" She continued. "If we don't do this now, they will come and take us away. We will never be together again…because they think we're the monsters."

The boy shook his head as a response. "We are not the monsters. The only monsters are humans that trample on our hearts…"

"We will make an impact on those who did not treat us well." She laughed innocently as she held her hand out to her twin. "I can't do this alone…will you join me?"

The male twin closed his eyes before he nodded his head slowly. He secretly didn't want to do this but maybe, just maybe, this will show that bitch that she'll never take the one most important to him.

"Of course Al. I'll join you."

Slowly walking up the stairs, the girl didn't hesitate to wrap the noose around his neck. She did the same to hers as well. All they had to do was use their magic to hang from the ceiling and it would all be over.

"Three…two…one…"

A single crimson tear dropped from the boy's eyes as it was all over in a flash. The last thing he remembered before everything faded to black was a happy group of friends playing together like they didn't have a care in the world.

_If only…we could go back to those days…I'm sorry…_

* * *

"Come on Ilyana! I want to go inside the mansion!" Shouted a little witch that looked to be the age of ten. She was tugging on the sleave of a woman that looked to be in her mid-teens with messy purple hair and big silver eyes. She wore cute stockings to go with her kiddy appearance. She seemed to be the shy and nervous type that was easily pushed around by people like the witch.

"U-Umm…I don't think it's a good idea…to go in there…Est…" The girl warned her. "It's dangerous…no one has ever went into this mansion in 100 years and come out."

"Aww come on! It's just a story! It's not like people die when they are killed, right?"

Ilyana cocked her head at Est's weird statement. The little witch was her bodyguard in the Pokémon world. Est may not look it, but she was a very competent fighter when provoked. In a Pokémon battle though, one must wonder if she really was good or not.

**_Est, I think you should listen to Ilyana and turn back to Undella Town._ **

The voice seemed to come from Est's hat. The witch pouted as she took off her hat revealing a shiny Zorua. This Zorua was different from other Zorua's not only because of his color but because he could communicate telepathically with other Pokémon Trainers.

"You be quiet Zorua! You're not part of this conversation!"

**_I honestly think this isn't a good idea…_ **

Est groaned, as she had to explain why they were here in this haunted mansion surrounded by fog on Route 14. "Okay, this mansion hasn't been explored in 100 years exact. I've been doing my research of this place and know that the owner of his mansion has a lot of treasure that can be sold at high price. It's much easier to find the treasure here than to dive underwater and retrieve old artifacts. I mean, I can't hold my breath that long and we don't know what's down there. Here though, we know the Spirit Mansion is built by stories and myths to prevent people from obtaining the treasure. Sure the people who owned the mansion did a double suicide and bad things happened if you stayed in here or were related to said people, but other than that, there's nothing else to prove it in this time and generation. We got strong Pokemon to back us up if all doesn't go well."

Despite her appearance, Est was a walking dictionary that does her research before jumping into the action. Ilyana wasn't a bookworm so she could only be the yes man to her bodyguard.

"It won't take long Ilyana. Unless you want to wait outside, I'll go in alone with Zorua. If I don't come out, then you know the myth is real…but I doubt it."

Ilyana in the end let Est go into the mansion alone. Zorua wanted to stay with the purple haired girl but Est wouldn't let her.

"B-Be careful…"

"Don't worry about me Ilyana! I'm your bodyguard!"

That was the last thing Ilyana heard from Est as the mist surrounded Est when she opened the door and disappeared.

"…Please be safe…"

* * *

Est loved the look of the mansion. It was dark, filled with purple mist that made the entire place cold. Almost everything was broken with no way to turn the lights on to make things brighter or to make progress in the mansion easier. The mansion had cobwebs and dust surrounding all the broken or unused furniture. Looking above, the ropes that were mentioned in the myths were still hung from the chandelier. Est concluded that whoever walked in would see hanging bodies moving around like puppets from how high the chandelier was.

 _ **Can we please go back?**_ Zorua asked as it cowered inside Est's hat. **_This place creeps me out!_**

Est just laughed at the suggestion and kept going. "This place creepy? Please! I love places like this! Think about it. There might be something in the corner of the room ready to spring out and spook me. There might be knives coming out of the wall ready to impale little old me and traps I could fall into with spikes in. If all of these traps exist, then I might run into skeletons of all the dead people~"

_**You're scaring me Est…** _

"What? I love the occult and Trip would love a place like this to ourselves. He wouldn't have to worry about the Mephisto family harassing him to move back in when his journey is over…"

Est gasped as she rushed up the stairs to see a broom that was at the side of the huge door. Taking the broom, she used it to attack the door. The door wasn't locked so it opened easily. She continued to giggle like a schoolgirl as she walked in. She was in a long hallway now.

"You know, this looks like the mansion near Nimbasa City that Maddalen bought." Est commented. "Maybe the interior design was taken to make that one!"

_**Oh Est…Maddalen never came in here…she would have died with everyone else.** _

"Stop saying that stuff! There's nothing here that's going to kill-"

She stopped as the door closed behind them. Her heart skipped a beat as they turned around.

_**Great, there is a vengeful ghost!** _

"Well…I guess I'll go forward."

Est didn't seem to care that the mist in the hallway was making it harder to see what was occurring around her. What would make someone tremble in fear, she shivered in anticipation waiting to see what was on the other side of the door. At the end of the hallway, she didn't hesitate to open the door. Her eyes widened in aww as she saw a shiny gold statue of a Pokémon. It was the only thing that was shiny in this entire mansion and it sparkled so brightly. Est was enchanted by the statue and walked forward.

_**What Pokémon is it?** _

"A ghost Pokémon. What else? This statue…might imply that the Ransei region does exist after all and not just a feudal era surrounded in myth. I'm going to take this and show it to Rhia. This will prove that I'm not just a stupid bodyguard hired by mistake…"

She smiled at the imagination of her showing the Pokémon statue to the Mephisto family and everyone bowing to her greatness. The idea of being able to step on Rhia's head after so many years of abuse would be very satisfying.

The witch didn't realize what hell she would unleash when she removed the statue from the table. She was surprised at how light the statue was. Smiling to herself she turned toward the door and began to skip back, her eyes closed and whistling a cute tune to herself.

As she tried to open the door though, the door wouldn't budge. She was going to toy with it but was genre savvy to know that she should just ram the door down. Before she had a chance to do that though, something grabbed her shoulder.

"Zorua?" She questioned as she turned around quickly to see who was touching her. Her eyes widened in horror at what she just saw.

The rest was history as the only thing you could hear was a scream that echoed throughout the mansion that could be heard from the outside. The Murkrow flew off into the distance upon hearing her scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 2069 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. There are references to Seizensetsu but this story is a different continuity meaning that this is not a sequel whatsoever but maybe something AU from that story.
> 
> 2\. The statue is the Pokémon that represents the Ransei region Spectra. It doesn't take a smart person to know what that person is.
> 
> 3\. The mansion is called Spirit Mansion because of the rumors surrounding it.


	2. New Faces Old Rivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash's group continues their journey through Eastern Unova waiting for the Unova League to start. They meet up with Trip quickly who is battling an old rival from the Sinnoh region. Naturally, the two don't get along. The battle is put on halt though when Trip finds out that his aunt is injured and Est has gone mission and promises Ilyana that he'll find her.

Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town was waiting for the Unova League to begin. Shortly after meeting the water gym leader Marlon, the group headed south from the Unova League to explore the eastern portion of Unova before it was time for the important tournament.

Dawn already told the group what she was going to do. The Sinnoh Coordinator declared that she was going to go to Johto to participate in the Wallace Cup, but decided to wait to take a plane there until Ash and the group was done traveling through the eastern section of Unova.

Cilan suggested that the group head toward Black City where they could train against powerful trainers before the Unova League began. Ash loved this idea given that he wanted to do better after losing to his rival Trip in the final round. Iris too wanted to train and get her Dragonite to obey her.

The group intended to stop and have a lunch break near the river of route 14, but the thought was gone the minute they saw an explosion from above. Ash instantly got excited thinking that there was a Pokémon battle nearby.

"Ash, wait up!" Iris called out as Ash with his trusty sidekick Pikachu on his shoulder charged in the direction of the explosion. "Man…he's such a kid."

"Axew…" Iris favorite dragon Axew agreed.

Cilan shook his head in annoyance, as he didn't have a chance to take his cooking supplies out. "Let's go see what's up…"

After running for a bit, Ash managed to find a clearing where he saw two trainers duking it out with their Pokémon. One was a young boy with dirty blonde hair and gray eyes fighting with a grass serpent known as Serperior. The other was a teenager with purple hair and black eyes giving an aloof aura that showed even when he commanded his magna Pokémon Magmotar to dish out serious damage to Serperior. Despite the type disadvantage, Serperior was holding his own in battle.

"Serperior, use dragon tail!"

"Fire punch!"

Serperior's tail began to glow as it collided with Magmotar's flaming fist. The attacks collided causing an explosion that caused an explosion in the area again. Both trainers didn't shield their eyes from the attack. When the smoke cleared, a crater was created where the Pokémon were. Both Pokémon were exhausted after clashing attacks. One more attack would decide the victor. It would have been all over if it weren't for Ash interfering.

"Hey Trip!" He ended up calling out noticing the younger trainer first.

That caused the younger trainer to look away surprised to see the last person he wanted to meet at the moment. "Ash?"

"Magmotar, flamethrower."

This attack caught Trip off guard as his Serperior took the full force of the flame attack almost sending it into a tree, but this time, the grass snake held his ground.

"Dammit Ash! Don't distract me!" Trip ended up cursing realizing he was going to lose now.

Ash didn't like how Trip was treating him, but when he looked over to his opponent, he decided to distract him too. "Paul?!"

The aloof trainer shook his head in annoyance not wanting to deal with the Kanto Trainer.

"Be quiet Ash. You're annoying."

Ash frowned when he confirmed the other trainer. "We haven't seen each other in a while and this is what I get?"

"We're in the middle of a battle Ash."

"But you could have just-"

Soon, the rest of the group caught up with Ash complaining about how he ran too fast. Once Dawn saw Paul though, she pointed to him and shrieked.

"Aww!"

"…You serious…I thought you and Ash split…"

"W-Why are you here?!" Dawn questioned just as irked as the Sinnoh trainer was.

"I'm trying to have a battle, so if you can just shut your mouth…we can finish…"

"What?!"

Trip could no longer battle once Ash and the group had his eyes on him. Shaking his head in defeat, he called back his Serperior. This visibly annoyed Paul who thought that Trip might be a challenge in this pathetic region. Calling his Magmotar back, he turned to leave the group. Dawn wouldn't let him though.

"Hey, who said you can just walk away when we're going to talk!" Dawn shouted as she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back.

"You're annoying, you know that?"

The Unova grouped watched Paul and Dawn interact, and for a second, they looked like a bickering couple. Iris just shook her head as she gave them her traditional comment she gave everyone.

"Those two are such kids."

"Tell me about it." Ash added. "They do this all the time when I was traveling through the Sinnoh region. It drove me crazy."

Dawn and Paul did not take that comment well as they stopped fighting to yell at the Kanto trainer who drowned him out. Seeing the group act like old friends caused something to stir in Trip who just watched from a distance with Cilan. Not saying anything, he planned on leaving when Ash wasn't looking.

"So Paul, what are you doing in the Unova region?" Ash questioned ignoring the insults thrown at him.

"What do you think? This is another region for me to travel and get stronger. This time, I'll defeat you at the Unova league."

"Really? How many badges do you have?"

"I already got all eight. Just waiting for the Unova league to start…what about you?"

"I have eight badges already!" Ash declared as he took out his badge case and showed Paul the eight badges he won. "See?"

"Hmph…so you are keeping up with your game this time."

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean? I learned a couple of things from traveling in your home region."

If it was just Ash and Trip, Trip would have complimented him for actually having the same number of badges as him this time around. He didn't say a word though with Ash's "deep conversation" with one of his old rivals.

"…Ash…you didn't introduce me to the new idiots that decided to travel with you."

Iris took offense to that comment and proceeded to attack him, but Cilan held her back.

"Idiot? Whose an idiot?! Try saying that to my face!"

Ash chuckled nervously as he introduced his new travel companions with his old rival. "That's Iris and Cilan. When I first got here, Iris tagged along with me and when I beat Cilan and his brothers at the Striation gym, Cilan thought it would be a good idea to come along."

"So it's mutual interest this time instead of being best friends…"

"You make it seem like having a lot of friends is a bad thing Paul."

"…"

"I told you to travel with Barry the last time we saw each other."

"He was annoying."

"That's no good. How will you get to know him if you just leave him back in your region?"

Paul wanted to change the subject as he turned back toward Trip who was glaring daggers in his and Dawn's direction. "What's the point in having an idiot like him who will slow me down?"

Dawn shook her head. "Barry would be so sad to hear that."

"Really? He's the type that would turn the other cheek and act like I'm the best thing."

"Someone's arrogant."

This reunion is stupid. Trip thought to himself as he planned to sneak away from the group who were all busy introducing themselves. I need to find Est and see what she wants.

As he turned to leave, a scream echoed through the forest catching everyone's attention.

"W-What was that?" Dawn questioned in worry.

Trip noticed the voice instantly and rushed in the direction of the voice.

"Trip wait up!"

Trip couldn't wait though. Someone he knew was in danger, he just knew it.

"Unfezant, fly toward the voice and protect her." Trip ordered as he held a Pokéball and threw it into the air. Out of the ball came a bird with colorful feathers that flew at top speed ahead of his trainer.

In a clearing, a woman with purple hair was being attacked by balls of flames that didn't seem to be a Pokémon at all. Unfezant unleashed a quick air cutter attack to shoo the flames away from the woman.

"Ilyana!"

The woman looked up from cowering to see a boy that looked similar to her in appearance. "Trip!"

Trip wasted no time in standing in front of the woman as he got another Pokéball ready to defend her. "Please stay back Ilyana. Frillish, take care of these spirits with water pulse!"

Trip unleashed his jellyfish Pokémon to attack with a water attack that trapped the flaming spirits inside the water. They definitely weren't Pokémon though because if they were, they would have reverted back to their original form when they were attacked originally.

"Dammit…" Trip cursed as he prepared to destroy the spirits on his own. He didn't get the chance to do so because Ash and the group caught up with him.

"What are those?!" Iris asked as the spirits were swerving around Trip and the woman he was protecting.

Dawn got out her Pokédex hoping to figure out what it was. The Pokédex was statically and said Pokémon unknown. "W-What? T-They're not Pokémon?"

"Ahhh! It's a ghost!" Cilan shouted as he hid behind Iris for protection.

Paul just rolled his eyes convinced that these spirits were just a figment of their imagination caused by another Pokémon somewhere else.

"Honchkrow, use haze." He ordered as he called out his crow Pokémon to spit out a black smoke that could clear away the spirits.

The spirits did get affected by the gas however and floated away into the trees and then disappearing. Trip was surprised that the spirits gave up that easily because it sure wasn't Paul's Pokémon that chased them off with that move.

"That's all it took. No reason to overreact." The aloof trainer responded as he called back his bird Pokémon.

The group calmed down immediately with those spirits gone. The dirty blonde did not expect to be glomped by the woman after it was all over. He did not appreciate her big boobs bouncing on top of his head.

"Ilyana…"

"Trip, I missed you so much! How have you been? Have you been taking care of yourself? My sister hasn't been giving you a hard time right? Why do you look so thin? You haven't been eating well at all!"

"Ilyana please…"

Trip felt his cheeks rising up at the treatment the purple haired woman was giving him. Now he was expecting a reaction from the group particularly from Ash. The Kanto trainer was as dumb as a brick and just looked at Trip confused. Cilan naturally had the same expression as Ash but he was blushing slightly. The girls gawked at the scene. Paul on the other hand…

" ** _Don't get any funny ideas._** " Trip snarled as he pushed the older girl off him.

"Um Trip, who is she?" Ash had to ask.

"Is she your…" Dawn didn't get to finish because Trip interrupted her.

"This is my aunt Ilyana. She lives in Lacunosa Town north of Undella Town. I'm assuming she's on her break so she doesn't have to deal with my grandmother."

"Grandmother?"

Trip turned his attention back to Ilyana and finally paid heed to the injuries on her body. Her outfit was slightly ripped and she looked out of breathe. The lollipop she usually had in her mouth was missing and she looked like she was in tears before being rescued by the group.

"Ilyana, what happened? Were those people after you because of mom or…"

"No…it's nothing like that. You saw it though right? Those spirits came after me because I tried to help Est but…"

"What happened to Est?"

Trip's aunt tried to hold back her tears but she was failing. "I'm so sorry Trip. I told her not to go into that mansion, but she..."

"Mansion? What mansion?" Ash questioned worried about someone close to Trip. The dirty blonde thought that the Kanto trainer needed to stay out of family business but he wanted to know what this mansion was too.

"…Not far from here is a deserted mansion…no one goes in fearing for their lives. Inside the mansion reside vengeful twins that roam the mansion until the end of time. I was stupid to let Est go in alone…or even in there at all."

"Why would Est go in there in the first place?"

"…There was apparently something of high value in there."

"Oh, that's why." Trip ended up saying in a matter of fact tone of voice. "Ilyana, I think Est will be fine…"

"I thought so too, but I had this bad feeling, and when I tried to go in after her those spirits chased me out…"

"…I guess you want me to go after her?"

"…I'm sorry…"

"No…it's okay…I can beat some sense into her for putting you through this."

"That's not needed Trip but…"

"She failed as a bodyguard if she can't even prevent you from having these scratches. Just tell me the direction of the mansion and I'll be back before you know it."

Ilyana sighed in defeat as she pointed in the direction of the waterfall. "The mansion is right next to the waterfall. Please be careful…"

"I will, don't worry about me."

"Trip!" Ash started as Trip turned to leave. "I'm coming with you!"

"Pika!"

"…There's no need Ash. I'll be fine on my own."

"But those spirits or whatever they are could hurt you!"

The dirty blonde just sighed. "Ash, it's no big deal…"

"I'm coming too!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Piplup!" Dawn's starter chirped with his trainer.

"Me too!" Iris added.

"Axew!"

"I seriously don't need help…" Trip muttered. He turned to Cilan who looked ready to turn tail and fled. "Besides, I don't think Cilan wants to go."

"W-What makes you say that?!" The grass gym leader questioned obviously shivering all over. "I don't mind staying with Ilyana…"

"No." Trip suddenly said changing his mind about the situation the minute Cilan thought he could stay in the safe zone with his aunt.

"W-What?"

"I don't trust you or him to be near her." Trip explained as he glared at Paul. "Ilyana can take care of herself, but she cannot be near a man."

Ilyana pouted. "Ah, Trip, that's not nice. Don't act like your mom…"

"If you want to help me out, make sure you drag those two along."

The girls chuckled as they turned around to face Cilan and Paul. It didn't take long for Iris to go over to Cilan and pull him by the ear convincing him to come along. Paul gave up without a fight if only because he didn't want to face the bluenette's wrath.

"That's your answer Trip." Ash said with that stupid grin on his face.

Trip honestly didn't want Ash and his friends to come along given this mission was going to be more dangerous than he let on, but with their constant blabbering, he could only accept their invitation now.

"Ilyana, please stay here or find a place away from the spirits. You know that spirits cannot chase after people within a thirty mile radius of where spirits reside."

"I know that Trip…I'll stay here…don't worry. Just save Est."

"We'll be fine…let's go now everyone…"

Iris and Cilan were already ahead of the group so Trip was only talking to Ash, Dawn and Paul. After calling their Pokémon back to their balls, the group set out toward Spirit Mansion. Ilyana could only rest near a tree and pray for their success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 3245 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. So yes, Paul is in this story, and that's only because the Vocaloid scene can only happen with someone I hate…or at least dislike. I don't murder characters I hate but I do put them through hell. Plus, if Dawn can be in this story, so can Paul. Also, I have a hard time deciding who I want to pair Paul up. On one hand, I like Barry/Paul, but on another hand, I only pair Paul/Dawn up simply because I hate them both and it's easy to write them as the unhappy couple (and will a rather funny scene next chapter). Of course OC characters are never a good thing but I took the Mary Sue test and I literally jawdropped when the website said Est was definitely not a Mary Sue…and I got annoyed because apparently Ginger is more likely a Gary Sue than Est despite being paired up with the guy girls for some strange reason love…yeah website logic…
> 
> 2\. It's pretty obvious that Trip is very protective of his aunt. Ilyana is that type of girl you want to snuggle for being so adorable and so vulnerable. As a member of the Mephisto family, she's not to be underestimated but she's very gentle compared to her sister Maddalen (and given what happened in Seizensetsu, you should know what she's capable of). Even if you have an innocent gesture to her, Trip will take it the wrong way.


	3. Spirit Mansion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash and the group finally make it into the mansion to rescue Est, but immediately they get separated from Trip. Soon they are fighting for their lives as they try to get Trip and Est out of the dangerous situation and book.

Spirit Mansion wasn't hard to find despite the fog that surrounded route 14. Spirit Mansion was your typical mansion that you would see in other animes and video games: an abandon mansion in the middle of nowhere surrounded by dense fog that gave the signal that it was a foolish idea to enter.

Cilan's knees were already shaking as the group stood outside of the mansion. Trip didn't hesitate to take his camera out and snap a few photos of the place.

"D-Do we have to go inside?" Cilan asked. "I-I mean…you heard what I-Ilyana said…"

"Cilan, are you chickening out now?" Iris asked with an amused face. "Don't be such a kid."

"I-It's not time! Ash, do you remember when we went into the Litwick mansion? That had such a bad after taste!"

Ash sighed as he honestly did not want to repeat that horror that happened there, but given that they knew what Litwick and it's evolution forms were capable of, they would not be tricked into trusting the candle Pokémon again.

"Cilan, we'll be fine this time. Litwick aren't scary when you deal with them before they suck your soul."

Trip pouted as Ash described the Litwick family. "Ash, not all Litwick try to kill people. You must have done something stupid for it to try and suck your soul…then again, the Litwick probably didn't like hillbillies anyway."

"What?!"

Paul smirked at that comment. "Hillbilly huh? That's a new one."

"Paul!"

Dawn just giggled as she waved Cilan off. "Everything will be okay. Trust me on this."

"Whenever you say that, things never go well…" Cilan mumbled to himself.

"Well, if you guys are talking, can we get this done. The sooner I find Est, the sooner I can beat her up."

Dawn did not like how Trip worded that sentence. There was no way in hell he would beat up a defenseless girl, right? The girls followed after Trip still giggling at Ash and Cilan. Paul continued to smirk as he walked past the two. Ash and Pikachu looked back at Cilan before following suit. Cilan sighed in defeat and chased after them not wanting to be left behind. Eyes were watching the group enter the mansion though…

* * *

 

Once inside the mansion, Cilan had to think that the entrance looked very similar to the one in the Litwick mansion. Everyone else was too busy looking around for any suspicious activity that was going on.

"Est, you here?!" Trip called out as he walked ahead of the group. "Est!"

"Where are you?" Ash shouted after the gray eyed trainer.

"Pika!"

"If you're hiding Est, come out!" Iris announced. "It's safe with us around!"

"Axew, Axew!"

Trip kept walking ahead of the group hollering his friend's name out. You would think that Trip was the one that was in danger of triggering a trap by walking around recklessly.

"Trip, don't get too far ahead." Ash warned as he followed suit.

This was the part where things went to hell very quickly. Trip did not trigger the trap that ended up opening the floor beneath everyone but him. The minute everyone realized that they weren't walking on the red carpet anymore, they all screamed (well Paul didn't but he was close). By the time Trip turned around from their outcry, the floor closed up.

"Ash?" Trip ended up calling out as he rushed back where the trap was. Maybe if he stood where it was, he would fall down too, but the trap did not activate a second time. "Ash? Iris? Cilan? This isn't funny! Come on guys! You can't leave me alone now!"

His voice was shaking when he said this. He didn't know what to do if the mansion ended up eating the group. He froze when he heard laughter coming from the top floor. Quickly turning around, he realized no one was behind him.

"Damn you spirits…" Trip grumbled as he stood up. "…trying to get me alone so you can play a game with me? Well, I'll show you that I can find Est without activating your damn traps!"

Trip glanced at the floor where Ash and the group were before proceeding to rush up the stairs to the next room. _Ash please be safe…_

* * *

The group was falling down a long hole that didn't seem to have an end. All but Paul was screaming as he was searching for something to grab onto while falling down. It got to the point where he realized that using a flying Pokémon would probably help the situation, but when he found a chain stuck to the wall, he reached out and grabbed it. Iris saw the exact same chain and grasped it as well.

The other three weren't so lucky and were falling. Using one hand to hold the chain, Paul managed to grab onto Dawn's leg with her other hand as she fell, but that only caused her to scream in pain. The aloof trainer also got an interesting view of her panties and despite the hole being dark, he could see they were pure white and ended up blushing as result.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She shrieked.

"Saving your life!"

"WHY LIKE THIS YOU PERVERT?!"

Dawn was struggling as she was trying to break free from Paul's grip. Iris didn't like where this was going because she was below them.

"You two stop fighting! If you do that, I'm going to-"

Dawn ended up kicking Paul in the face causing him to let go of the chain. When he let go, the two ended up dropping onto Iris who ended up tumbling down with the rest of them.

Ash found an opening that looked safe to land on. He fought with gravity to land where there was open space. Quickly extending his hand, Ash was able to grab a hold of Cilan's hand before he fell into the pit. Cilan stopped screaming for a bit when he thought he was safe but the minute he felt something spiky where his foot was, he screamed again urging Ash to pull him up. The Kanto trainer hoisted Cilan into the room and quickly got out his Pokéball.

"Snivy, use vine whip!" Ash ordered as he called out his Pokémon.

A small grass Pokémon came out of her Pokéball as she quickly extended the vines on her back to grab at the remaining trio that was falling to their death. She caught them in an awkward manner and hoisted them to where her trainer was just as quickly.

The group had to stop to catch their breath from the fall but it was Paul that broke the silence as he glared daggers at Dawn.

"Are you trying to get us all killed?" He generally seemed upset for once despite his face never showing emotion.

"Well you shouldn't have held me so roughly! I thought I was going to lose my leg!"

"We probably would have had our skull cracked if we kept falling, but you obviously cared about me seeing your panties over saving your life!"

"You saw them after all!"

"It wouldn't be an issue if you covered up!"

"What?!"

Iris wanted to go to a corner of the room and cry. The two Sinnoh trainers almost got her killed. Cilan managed to look over to see what the spiky thing was and shrieked again causing the two trainers to stop bickering.

"Cilan, what is it?"

"…Ash…I really need to thank you for saving our lives…"

Ash was confused by what he meant. The connoisseur pointed down into the pit where the rest of the trainers ended up looking. They saw what made Cilan scream and it made the girls pull back at the horrible sight.

"…What is this?" Ash had to ask as this was the first time he had seen anything like this.

The bottom of the pit wasn't that far from where they were standing but there were spikes at the bottom of said pit. If they just fell without doing anything, they would have been impaled like some of the unfortunate trainers that fell into the same trap. Where they got impaled varied, as some of the positions of the dead bodies were different. Some people fell in the shape of a starfish and were impaled all the way through head, stomach, limps and all. Others tried to land perfectly and ended up getting impaled through the crotch and it went all the way inside them (apparently but it was too dark to tell), and let's not forget the few trainers that went head first and got impaled through the skull and were stuck like a popsicle. The worse part was that there were Pokémon that were also impaled with the spikes and from the looks of things, it took longer for the Pokémon to die compared to their trainers if they fell through.

"…The rumors of this mansion…are true…" Paul stated the obvious. "This might be the place where the bodies are dumped…or maybe they fell through the trap like we did…"

"Horrible…this is horrible…" Dawn mumbled as she felt like crying and puking. Her Piplup wanted to comfort her, but he was just as horrified at the sight.

The group stood there in silent not knowing what to do before Ash realized someone was missing. "Trip! Where is he?!"

"…He must still be up there." Paul suggested regaining his cool composure. "Wouldn't be surprised if someone got to him."

"Dammit, we need to go back to the top!"

"Easier said than done. It doesn't look like there's anyway to go from this room."

Cilan looked around in the small room. "I have to disagree. There's a hidden door over there that should lead us back to the main hall."

"You sure?"

"…I don't know…but I don't want to stay in this area any longer…"

The group didn't have a choice but to trust Cilan to open the door. When he did, it leads to a new area that the group ended up taking.

* * *

Trip rushed to the top floor where Est was last seen and glanced around annoyed that the spirits weren't giving him a hard time. In the room he was in, Est's hat was on the floor as if it fell off her head when she was taken away. Trip didn't bother taking the hat and ended up glancing at the wall.

"Est, wait for me…"

Making it to the wall, he closed his eyes; a blue aura formed around his hands to the door effectively making the wall disappear like it was an illusion.

"…Wait for me…" He repeated as he charged forward ignoring all the doors and heading to the last one. With the mysterious aura in his hand, he forced the door opened revealing a room that Trip would describe as being a place for sacrificing people. Est was in the middle of the circle ready to be sacrificed; her Pokéballs were surrounding her.

"Est!"

Trip rushed to Est's side getting on his knees trying to shake her awake. "Est, wake up! Est!"

Est shifted in her sleep as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Est…"

"Get…out…of here…" She warned in a weak voice. "Before they…"

"Before they what? Est?"

Trip found out what she meant too late as the summoning circle glowed a powerful purple trapping them both inside. His vision became a blur instantly as he collapsed onto Est's body, voices laughing at the predicament he fell in.

_Dammit…it was a trap…Ash…_

* * *

After dodging knives that were coming out of the wall, poltergeist being thrown at them and Cilan screaming for his life, the group finally made it to the main floor. While they were catching their breath, Paul was already trying to open the front door again. It still wouldn't budge.

"Damn, still not budging…"

"W-What?! We're trap here?" Dawn questioned in a panicked tone. "I don't want to stay here anymore!"

"Dawn, calm down," Ash told her, "we got to find where Trip went."

"He might be dead." Paul snarked as he kicked the door, but it still wouldn't go down in its hinges.

"Paul!"

"Just saying that since he was the only one that didn't fall for the trap, if someone was alive in this mansion killing everyone, he would be picked off first."

Paul expected Ash to punch him in the face for saying something like that, but instead, Ash looked toward the stairs and rushed up it.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Iris questioned thinking that he lost it.

"Axew!"

The Kanto trainer didn't hear his friend. Something told him that Trip was up the stairs and further down in the next room.

"Trip, where are you?" Ash called out as he entered the next room with the big hallway and then checked every small room. Pikachu thought it was stupid to check every room for the young boy, but eventually, he helped his trainer call out Trip's name in Pokémon speak. Iris and co realized that they would have to follow Ash if the door wasn't going to dislodge itself anytime soon.

Soon, Ash checked every room on that floor except for the one at the end of the hall. This was the room that Trip was probably in. He didn't hesitate to force the door open. There was no one in this room either, but Ash could see that someone already went into this room from the witch hat that was on the floor.

"Whose is this?" Ash asked as he picked it up. "Do you think this belongs to Est?"

Pikachu glanced at the hat before nodding his head in agreement. The group caught up to Ash, but only Cilan was whining the entire time about going deeper into the evil mansion.

"A-Ash, why must you persist in going in deeper?" Cilan bleated, "We need to find a way to get out."

Knowing that escape was impossible for now, Iris sighed in defeat as she checked the hat that Ash was holding. "What did Trip and Ilyana tell us about Est?"

"From their conversation they implied that Est was known for dressing up like a witch."

"She's how old and she believes in magic?" Paul mocked as he searched the room for any signs of a secret door because he was expecting that there was more to this room if this was where Est's hat was.

"I doubt she would be happy to hear that question." Dawn mumbled as she too joined the searched. "Wonder where they went…"

"Hopefully they're not dead…"

"Paul, enough with that!" Ash shouted at his old rival.

Paul glanced at the wall in front of him and felt it. He could feel a breeze behind it. "…There's something here…I can feel a breeze."

"Really?"

"One of you use your Pokémon to break it open." Paul ordered.

Iris and Dawn looked at each before nodding their head in union.

"Piplup, use bubble beam!"

"Axew, use dragon rage!"

The penguin and the dragon obeyed as they jumped into the air and fired either a powerful beam of bubbles or a fiery attack that took the form of a dragon. Paul moved out of the way just in time as the combined attack collided with the door destroying the wall and revealing a path to another portion of the mansion.

"Looks like I was right on this one." Paul said with a smirk.

Ash wasted no time and charged ahead hoping to find Trip. "TRIP!"

It seemed to be another long hallway with multiple rooms. There was something odd about this room though. It felt like it was a replica of the room before them.

"Ash…don't touch the other doors…" Paul warned. "Something is off…"

The raven-haired teen didn't listen as Ash opened the first door to his left. Instantly a human body was thrown at him causing Ash to fall to the floor. It didn't matter if you saw it coming or not, everyone screamed when they saw the body thinking it was a zombie ready to bite Ash. Everyone backed up but only Cilan tried to run back causing Iris to grab onto the back of his collar preventing his escape.

"LET ME GO BACK TO THE ENTRANCE! IT'S SAFER THERE!"

Ash pushed the body off after the initial shock. His heart was pounding when he examined the face of the body. The body was of a boy his age maybe older who had the life drained out of him given that his body looked similar to raisins.

"Ash, listen next time…" Paul grumbled realizing that he had the shock of his life right there.

After calming down though, Dawn couldn't help but chuckle at Paul. "You screamed with us."

"I did not scream."

"You so did."

"…"

"Can we hurry up now?!" Cilan yelped still in panic mode. "I want to get out! I knew this was a bad idea! This is horrible tasting!"

Ash couldn't look through all the doors now, but he had a feeling that the door at the end was the one that needed to be opened. Getting up, the Kanto trainer made his way to the end of the hall and tried to open the door. This door wouldn't budge though. Putting both hands on the doorknob, Ash pulled. He wasn't strong enough to open the door.

"…This one is locked…"

"Just pull harder." Dawn suggested despite the fact she wasn't going to assist Ash at all.

It was Iris that helped Ash pull the door forcing it open. The group took a peak inside and found what they were looking for.

"TRIP!" Ash shouted as he rushed inside without checking for traps.

He was lucky there was no such thing in this room. In fact, this room was different from the rest. It looked like a room that was meant for doing a summoning ritual. In the center of the room were Trip and Est with their Pokéballs that formed a perfect circle around them. Both of them were unconscious but appeared to be unharmed. Ash made it toward Trip stepping on the markings of the summon circle.

"Trip, wake up!" Ash shouted as he grabbed a hold of him and tried to shake him awake. He wouldn't wake up though. "Dammit Trip! Wake up!"

Trip shuffled slightly in his sleep, but he didn't wake up immediately. Everyone else focused on waking up Est who was out cold compared to Trip. Cilan was searching the room terrified of the sensation he was feeling in this room. This room felt like a graveyard where the dead would arise and attack them.

"C-Can we get out now?" Cilan asked again. "T-This room…is…"

"Trip!" Ash called again drowning Cilan out. This time, the young trainer slowly came to as he opened his eyes. "A…Ash…"

Ash smiled in relief as he unintentionally embraced him. "Thank god you're okay!"

Trip began to shiver and it wasn't from the coldness of this room. "W…Where is Est?"

"She's here too." The raven haired teen stated pointing in her direction. "We're getting out of here."

"Ash…be…careful…the spirits here…are real…"

"What?"

"Get down!"

When Trip raised his voice, the group quickly reacted and ducked down, and just in time too. A pendulum swung down on them from above without warning and nearly knocked their heads off. Cilan wasn't screaming this time but that was because he was too scared to do so this time.

"W-What?"

Trip glared in the direction of the weapon of death. "…It can be destroyed…with thunderbolt…"

"Oh! Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

Pikachu hesitated for a minute before jumping off his trainer's shoulder and electrocuting the pendulum. It stopped moving because the spirits were taking possession of the pendulum. The spirits originally didn't have faces given they were ball of fires but that changed this time as they decided to shift the flames to the point where it looked like they had demonic eyes that glared down at Ash and the group.

**You will not escape.**

Cilan was on the verge of collapse and nearly fell on top of Paul who pushed him off.

"Don't you dare faint on me!" Paul growled. "Any bright ideas?"

"How about we run?" Iris suggested as a matter of fact statement.

"That's a great idea!" Cilan exclaimed as he jumped up instantly and rushed for the door…only for the door to slam in Cilan's face trapping the group inside the summon room. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Well shit…" Trip cursed as he looked above. "They don't want us leaving."

"Obviously! What do we do now?" Dawn asked, her voice starting to rise in panic.

**No one has ever escaped this place alive. Die…**

The spirits charged toward the group causing everyone to brace him or herself. What they didn't realize was that the legendary Pokémon known as Meloetta was following them around this entire time. She made herself visible to the group as she began singing a song to calm the spirits.

"M-Meloetta!" Ash exclaimed. "You followed us here too?!"

Meloetta hoped by using relic song, she could calm the spirits down and stop their hostile attack on the group that she learned to love. The spirits froze if only because the song seemed to be damaging them instead of calming them down. As Meloetta sung, their grip on the door loosened greatly. Cilan realized this quickly and rushed past the spirits opening the door.

"Come on everyone! This is our chance!"

The girls were the ones that rushed toward the door first making sure to take the Pokéballs that surrounded Trip and Est. Paul knew he had to carry the little witch. Without thinking, he picked her up and carried her out of the room bridal style. Trip did not have that luxury as Ash decided to give the Unova trainer a piggyback instead.

"Meloetta, let's go!" Ash demanded as he rushed for the door.

The legendary Pokémon stopped her singing and trailed after Ash and the group. Once she was out of the room, Cilan closed the door knowing that the spirits would probably just go through it. No one asked how Cilan regained his composure, but if you were to look at his eyes, it wasn't the same Cilan that the group had known for a while…

* * *

Iris led the way all the way back to the entrance. The entire mansion became their enemy as the doors that weren't open by Ash were flung open and the dead bodies were hitting the group trying to slow their progress and it worked when one of the bodies caused Dawn to fall over.

"Oww…"

"Piplup! Pip-piplup!"

"Dawn, you okay?" Ash asked as he was the one that had the rear with Melodetta.

"Y-Yeah…I'm coming."

The wall that the group blew up was slowly repairing itself. Iris ordered her Axew to use dragon rage on the door again before it closed. Again, Axew unleashed the dragon attack causing the wall to crack again allowing the group to jump through to the other side. They were almost home free. They just needed to run through one more hallway and down the stairs and they would be at the entrance.

The doors that Ash did open on this floor had more spirits that originally weren't there. They took the form of human hands as they tried to grab at everyone.

"Meloetta, relic song!" Ash ordered.

Again, Meloetta sung her song causing the spirits to have a negative reaction. Before the hands could seize the Pokémon of the group, they withered away back into the floor.

The group finally made it to the main floor where they were close to the outside world. They forgot one thing though. The door was locked from the outside meaning they couldn't escape.

"Dammit! Open up!" Iris shouted as she banged on the door.

"Just destroy the door!" Paul told her as he prepared to call out his powerhouse.

"No…don't…" Trip mumbled as Ash finally caught up with the group. "If you do…the spirits…will escape…and will…kill everyone in the area…"

"What, so you're saying we're stuck here? How do you expect to fight these spirits?!"

"I…"

Meloetta was exhausted from using relic song repeatedly. Cilan ended up catching the legendary Pokémon in his arms and holding her close.

"This…isn't good…"

The spirits eventually caught up to the group and they were in a huge number now to cover up the top floor. The group was forced to back up against the door realizing that they were trapped.

 _Dammit._ Trip cursed to himself as he tried to reach for something in his pocket. _If I didn't let my guard down…I would have enough strength to do it…_

The group would have been screwed, but there was help from outside…

"METRONOME!"

The trainers shouldn't have had stood next to the door because it was hit by a hyper beam attack causing the door to crumble.

"Trip, you okay?!"

Trip looked up to see his aunt with a pink Pokémon known as Clefable. He couldn't help but smile. "Aunt Ilyana!"

"She blew up the door after all…" Paul grumbled wanting to be the one to destroy the blasted door.

"Everyone, please get out now!" She shouted. "I'll handle this!"

"But Ilyana-"

"She won't be alone." Came another voice. "Ninetales, use flamethrower."

The group didn't see that there was a young man with brown hair and sea green eyes. He wore a red coat that covered most of his body as well as having brown pants to fit with the color red. He wore a burgundy colored scarf to cover his mouth. Next to him was a kitsune with nine tales. When Ninetales shot the flames from her mouth, the spirits backed off almost immediately not because of the attack, but because of the trainer that was attacking them.

"Alma, Alastor!" He began as he walked past the young trainers and toward the spirits.

"What is he doing? Is he crazy?" Iris asked, but quickly rushed out into the sunlight along with Cilan and Dawn who did not want to be in the mansion anymore. Ash and Paul ended up staying though to see what the mysterious man in red would do.

"You need to listen to me. You have to let go of your hate and pass on. You can't keep doing this to yourselves!"

The spirits didn't seem to be listening to him, but they weren't attacking him.

"Please, I understand your pain…you can let go now…"

When he took another step, the spirits decided to flee to every portion of the mansion away from the mysterious man. He frowned when he realized that he failed his mission.

"That…didn't take long after all…" Ilyana muttered as Ash and Paul gazed at the man in aww at how he handled the spirits.

"…But they'll be back…and with the door destroyed…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be…I'll put a seal on the door, so they won't try to escape and attack the kids here."

As he turned around, he saw the expression that Ash, Paul and Trip were giving him.

"W-Who are you?" Ash ended up asking first.

"…My name is Virtue…and you kids have a lot of explaining to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 5350 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. Of course Cilan will bring up the Litwick mansion given how dark that episode was and how the group nearly died. Naturally, it won't happen twice now that the group knows what the Litwick are capable of, but it makes sense for Cilan to be scared of another mansion (especially since this one is going to be worse).
> 
> 2\. Everyone already knows my hatred toward Dawn and Paul, but even if I hate them, I will never write them out of character (or try not to) but I can still exaggerate how much of a dick Paul can be or how much Dawn whines. But seriously, I'm surprised there wasn't a scene where Paul and Dawn openly fight given how the fandom loves to make them fight in Ikarishipping fics. I mean, it's easy to imagine Paul trying to do something good and nice but Dawn messes it up.
> 
> 3\. If you want a better description of the dead bodies that Ash and the group saw, think of that one stage in Mortal Kombat where if you do a fatality, you can punch them off onto the spikes from a high cliff and that was in the original game.
> 
> 4\. I'm trying something different with Cilan and the Shadow Triad theory. Cilan is lying to the player about how he met the Shadow Triad. However the alternate theory I have is that Cilan convinced himself that he met the Shadow Triad members when in reality, the Shadow Triad member is a split personality of him and the other two brothers and like in Umineko, he's hallucinating when the Shadow Triad beat them in a battle because the strong personality always tries to kill the weak persona. So in this story and similar to the story Twins of Evil, it's a split personality thing instead of Cilan's personality being a façade.
> 
> 5\. I almost forgot to incorporate Meloetta into the story but these events are before the big Team Rocket event so Team Rocket won't be in this story for the reason that they are preparing for their finale with Giovanni. Meloetta's voice is powerful enough to repel the spirits given the mystical nature of the song and unlike with Pokémon where it calms them down, it injures the vengeful twin spirits for a very good reason that will be revealed later.
> 
> 6\. Virtue if you haven't noticed is from the Disgaea/Kid Icarus universe OCs. What's he doing in the Pokemon universe? Well, its a different Virtue sort of...


	4. Patience is a Virtue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious man Virtue tells the tale behind Spirit Mansion and the twins that want their revenge, but Cilan knows he's not telling the full story…

Ash and the group were taken in by Ilyana and the mysterious man known as Virtue back to Virtue's place which was in the middle of the forest not too far from the actual mansion. The concept of someone living next to that haunted mansion was horrifying but this man seemed to have the power to chase the spirits away.

Cilan returned to his normal self and entered a state of shock given that the trainers barely made it out alive. Iris sighed as she was patting him on the back secretly enjoying the Connoisseur in this state of mind.

The group stayed in Virtue's living room (it was rather small and with how many people were in the room, it was going to be hard to squeeze in). While Cilan was lying on the couch with Iris comforting him, Ilyana placed Est on the other couch. The little witch recovered rather quickly and was already sitting on the couch instead of resting. Paul decided to lean against the wall so he could hear the story Virtue had to tell. Everyone else sat on the floor but Ash allowed Trip to lean into him if only because he was tired. The Pokémon were in another corner of the room, but Meloetta decided to go invisible again to avoid the new faces.

"Are you going to explain what happened in there?" Paul was the one that had to ask and break the silence. "I'm not going to believe that a bunch of spirits planned all of that."

Virtue didn't speak right away when the group got back. He went to get a cup of coffee for himself and asked anyone if they wanted any. Coffee did not taste good so most of the group declined. Cilan would have asked for some but he was still getting over his freak out.

"It happened." The older trainer muttered as he took the final couch seat on the opposite side of Est. "It has been for the past 100 years."

"100 years?"

This was going to be a long explanation that they were going to have to sit through. Sighing, Virtue put his cup of coffee down on the table before beginning.

"What you experienced in Spirit Mansion was the curse of the pale twins Alma and Alastor."

"Alma…and Alastor?" Ash ended up repeating their name.

"These twins roam the mansion cursing any trainer that is foolish enough to go into Spirit Mansion whether it's by a dare or have the need to explore the place in search of treasure or even to even confirm if the curse exists." Virtue glared at Est who avoided eye contact with the man responsible for saving her life. "And you were stupid to go into the mansion despite all of these facts."

"I thought they were false…" Est grumbled and just pouted.

"Bullshit." Trip responded quickly. "I know you. You'll go anywhere for any occult item you can use to scare someone."

"Shut it Trap!"

"It's Trip!"

"Trip, Est, please…" Ilyana burbled.

The two trainers had to be quiet as Virtue continued.

"Those twins not only kill trainers that go into their mansion, recently they have decided to lure ignorant trainers to their mansion and kill them…"

"Why? Why would they do such a thing?" Iris questioned not wanting an answer.

"It's a long story…" Virtue admitted. "It will take a while to talk about their past."

"Mr. Virtue," Ilyana started. "I think we should know if we want to know what we're up against."

"Right…"

* * *

_100 years ago when Unova was still prospering, Black City was originally called White Forest and enjoyed a life of solitude. Three friends lived in White Forest without a care in the world. They were called Virtue, Dusk and Darlene. The trio was inseparable despite the age difference between Virtue and his two friends. Virtue who was already a Pokémon trainer was going to leave his friends soon to go out on a journey. The reason he didn't want to leave was because he was terrified of the world outside of the forest. Would people be kind to him or were the rumors about outsiders being cruel were true? He didn't want to know and only held back because his friends wanted to go with him, but even though they planned to leave soon, there plans backfire when the twins came into their lives._

_The twins literally showed up from nowhere. Spirit Mansion was built north of White Forest and can easily be seen on clear days. The people that lived in the mansion were a mysterious bunch always talking about the past and how things have changed over time. This made Virtue wonder from time to time if the twins were real or just an illusion that was created over time._

_The twins were very real though. One was a cute hyperactive girl that had too much energy for her own good. The other was a quiet but still adorable young boy that tended to hide behind his sister when people bombarded him with questions that he couldn't answer. Both had silky white hair and red eyes. Both wore kimonos from the Kanto region making them look more exotic than they intended to be. It didn't appear to many people that they looked like dead spirits to begin with. The twins were always the one visiting White Forest for errands and were never seen with their parents. The twins were inseparable before befriending the group of friends, but once they did, everything fell apart for the trio._

_It was the female twin known as Alma that walked up to Virtue and asked him who his name was. Virtue thought it was odd for a little girl asking for his name given everyone knew who he was. He turned to the boy behind the little girl and gave him a warm smile causing him to look away shyly._

_"…I'm Virtue. Are you new here?"_

_"Yeah! I'm Alma and this is my cute brother Alastor. We just moved here from Ransei."_

_Virtue had to think about that statement for a moment. Where was Ransei in the world? He read books about how it was an old country that eventually fell due to interferences with villains from the future and only the name of a few warlords lived on mainly the Date family that was the longest living family line that resigns in Johto._

_"I see…what do you need?"_

_"Can you show us a place to buy food? We're low on food at home~" Alma hummed as she looked around the forest to see the beautiful leaves and forest Pokémon residing in them._

_"I will, but first thing is first. Where are your parents? I cannot take children far away from their parents. I don't want to be seen as a kidnapper."_

_"Umm…they're…at the mansion…" Alastor mumbled shyly as he looked down. "Still packing…"_

_Virtue didn't know why the voice of the young boy intrigued him. It might have been because it sounded similar yet different from the girls. He didn't want to say the girl had an annoying voice, but the hyperactive twin was always the one he wouldn't want to speak to. The quiet one however tended to have more interesting things to say when you got him or her to open up._

_"I see…will I have their permission?"_

_"Yes, of course!" Alma chirped as she rushed ahead of Alastor leaving him next to the older man._

_"I'm sorry for troubling you…" Alastor replied weakly. "My sister isn't usually this cheerful…"_

_"I have a hard time believing that." Virtue said bluntly as he turned around. "Come. I'll show you around after I catch your sister."_

_That was probably the beginning of the end for Virtue. Virtue was use to taking care of kids and made sure to treat them all the same. However, Alastor was different. He needed a push in the right direction, and that resulted in Virtue leading the twins to where his friends hung out. They had a small hut where many Pokémon gathered to play with them. This was generally where Virtue was able to demonstrate how to raise Pokémon that would suit Dusk and Darlene._

_Virtue didn't realize that by introducing the twins to Dusk and Darlene, things would fall apart. Alma wasn't a normal girl, but that was obvious from her appearance, but behind her genki personality hid a jealous girl that wanted to be the center of attention. She loathed how Darlene was always in the middle of the conversation because she had good jokes to tell. Her cheerfulness was genuine compared to Alma when put next to each other. When they stood side-by-side, Alma's happiness seemed forced and that irritated her to no end._

_Another issue that Virtue should have resolved was stopping Alma from falling in love with Dusk. Alma was the type of girl to prefer the aloof bad boy that pushed everyone away but secretly wanted to love someone who was the exact opposite of him. Alma convinced herself that she was that person and often hung out with Dusk constantly ignoring her twin to be with him. Alastor seemed to be co-dependent on his sister so her actions made him more withdrawn than usual and Dusk didn't like the attention he was getting from the white haired girl._

_Dusk was a complicated fellow. He said he didn't need any friends but came back to the group and hung out with everyone. Virtue knew he was a lonely individual that didn't know how to talk to girls. He had a crush on Darlene way before the twins fell into the picture. Alma's pursuit scared him. To add to that, Dusk had a fear of ghost Pokémon and the occult. He never told anyone that, but it was obvious when Alma and Alastor would describe the type of place they lived in and their hobbies would he began to shiver and insist that the subject was changed._

_Dusk has failed multiple times to reject Alma's unwanted advances. What he ended up doing was going to Darlene for comfort. Soon, one thing would lead to another and the two would eventually hook up and be a temporary couple. Alma didn't take that well at all given that Dusk had "lead her on" and she started going over the deep end. It was noticeable whenever she talked, her voice would crack at some points like she was about to snap. Alastor noticed and was terrified of his twin. He wanted to get away from her while she threw her temper tantrums at home. Virtue never asked what happened at their mansion, but it wasn't pleasant. It got to the point that Virtue started to take care of Alastor who was finally able to not be so dependant on his twin._

_This was another mistake though according to Virtue. Another thing he did not expect was for Alastor to develop any feelings toward him. He rejected those feelings for many reasons. First Alastor was another guy and White Forest did not accept homosexuality. They consider relationships of the same gender to be a sin against the spirits of the forest and would cast out anyone who showed interest in the same gender. Second, there was a huge age gap between the two. It would be a crime to engage with someone who wasn't even a teenager yet. Finally, Virtue knew this relationship would bring tragedy to everyone around him._

_Alas, someone found out about Alastor's crush on the older trainer and blew it out of proportion. Things got out of hand from there and Alastor was casted out of the forest not allowed to come back and escape his sister. Virtue tried to reason with the elder, but he would have none of it. It's like the village lost anyway of negotiating from this one misunderstanding._

_Virtue might as well blamed Darlene for it given she misunderstood the situation. In fact, he could have said she brought it upon herself when horrible things started to happen afterwards. In fact, the disaster did start when the twins hung themselves due to isolation from their peers and believing their loved ones rejected them. From there, White Forest was cursed because of the twins starting with the Pokémon either getting sick and dying like animals or leaving the forest altogether to get away from the ominous presence. As the Pokémon disappeared one by one, some of the villagers began to disappear whenever the area got foggy. These villagers were never seen again._

_A year later, Virtue, Darlene and Dusk would go to the mansion where their friends died to see what was going on. It ended tragically though as Virtue was the only one who came out of the mansion. He never saw his friends again._

* * *

Virtue ended the tale of the twins right there, but that only made the young group more confused. Was Virtue referring to himself in third person or was this Virtue a different person entirely? What exactly took place in the mansion that allowed the forest to be cursed? What became of Virtue's friends after the trio went into the mansion?

"Umm…Virtue…" Ilyana ended up speaking first. "What happened to White Forest?"

"You should know the rest." Virtue said with a sigh. "White Forest is now Black City, the city of greed. The twins made sure that everyone in the village died even if they left to avoid the curse that inflicted the city. However, this did not stop many businessmen to take White Forest as their own and build many skyscrapers with their money. Alas, the children that live in Black City tend to be taken away from their parents, but unlike in White Forest, it goes without notice. Building a sinful city will cause more deaths than necessary. People like me try to warn those money grubbing bastards about the incident, but they don't care…and then they wonder why they end up dead shortly afterward."

"Are you the Virtue in the past?" Ash had to ask randomly.

Virtue ended up glaring at Ash for even asking that question. "…No. Virtue is dead…besides…humans can't live that long without looking old."

"The twins can live that long." Trip commented.

"They're vengeful spirits that already had special powers granted to them. This is what happens when you can't clear up a misunderstanding."

"…It looked like you were trying to clear it up with them though." Paul mumbled.

"The Virtue of the past could not do it, so I will do it for him. They're a stubborn bunch though refusing to listen to reason. Sometimes I think I have to beat some sense into them if I'm going to get them to turn the other cheek."

"B-But what about us?" Cilan finally asked trying to calm himself down. "We entered the mansion, so are they still going to follow us?!"

"…I cannot say, but I plan on settling the score with them now. With the seal broken in the mansion, their murderous aura will run rampart and cover Black City, so it's my job to make sure there are no more victims."

"Can you do that…without getting us killed?"

"Cilan, stop being a baby!"

"B-But Iris…uh…"

"No, I understand your concern completely. I will be preparing to stop them tonight, but I would not advise you to leave on your journey just yet. Once you leave the area, I cannot guarantee your safety."

"So we're basically being used as bait to lure them out?" Paul questioned in utter annoyance.

"Paul, you're so rude!" Dawn fumed wanting to smack the jerkass trainer over the head for his insensitive comments.

Virtue said nothing to the comment and continued on. "There are not enough rooms for all of you, so two people per room."

Est instantly sat up happily. "I'm sleeping with Ilyana!"

That earned a smack from the dirty blonde.

"You try anything funny and I will hit you with something harder than my fist!"

"What can be harder than a fist? A frying pan?!"

As the two started to fight over Trip's aunt, Virtue already decided who would rest in the rooms. Dawn and Iris would stay in one room. Cilan and Paul would be together leaving Ilyana with Est (despite Trip's protest) and Ash and Trip. Trip was so busy pestering Est that he didn't even protest with being in the same room with the raven-haired trainer. Virtue advised that all the Pokémon stay in the living room given his rooms were not meant to take Pokémon in no matter how small they were. The biggest question Iris had was why a man that lived alone had so many rooms, but Virtue was done talking for the day apparently.

* * *

"Ah man, I can't believe we almost died in there!" Ash complained as he flopped on the bed. "No one told me that saving your sister would nearly get us killed!"

Trip rolled his eyes as he sat next to Ash on the bed. "For your information, Est isn't my sister. She is my mom and Ilyana's best friend and Ilyana's bodyguard. She is ten years older than me despite her appearance. There is no way in hell she would be my sister."

The dirty blonde didn't seem to take offense to Ash whining about dying but he took offense for Ash addressing Est as a family member. Ash sighed as he continued to lie on the pillow. "Still…what did Est do to piss these twins off?"

"The usual. Take something that doesn't belong to her and expect to get away with it. Sometimes I wonder if she does this on purpose."

"How would I know? You know her longer than I have."

"Sometimes I wish I didn't. She put you in danger…"

"Actually, it was you." Ash said in a matter of fact tone. This caused Trip to turn toward Ash his face beat red.

"W-What are you insinuating? Are you saying that I'm the distressed damsel despite the fact that Est was the one that went in the mansion and got herself captured?!"

The Kanto trainer chuckled at Trip's response. He had never seen Trip this worked up. Maybe acting like Gary wasn't so bad after all if it meant getting responses like this. Trip scowled as he turned away, folding his arms and acting like the conversation was done.

"I'm still glad that you're okay though." Ash said with a small smile. "If something bad were to happen to you, I would be very sad."

"!"

Ash had his back turned when he said those words. The Kanto trainer yawned and prepared to go to sleep without Trip responding to the statement at all. The gray-orbed trainer felt his heart race as he glanced toward the older trainer. The feelings he had been having for a while were swirling out of control. Trip didn't say anything to Ash though because for once, he was speechless.

_Ash…why do you say these things to me? I can't handle these emotions well…_

_"If you're not going to do anything, I'll take over."_

_! W-Who are you? D-Don't tell me that you're…_

_"Tee-hee, I'm going to have fun when you refuse not to."_

"But seriously Trip..." Ash continued as he sat up and moved toward the edge of the bed. "Don't do that again. We were lucky that Virtue was able to save us. I don't think there will be a second chance."

"There is always a second chance."

Ash was puzzled at the tone of voice Trip was using. Glancing at the younger trainer, he noticed that Trip's eyes were no longer gray. They were red and full of an emotion that Ash could not pinpoint. Trip smiled seductively as he leaned toward the raven-haired trainer and gave a quick kiss catching him off guard.

"Ash, I'm tired of waiting. I'm ready for you now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 3767 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. Virtue talks in third person when talking about the past. He also left a lot of information out in his explanation of the twins that will be cleared up in the next two chapters. Virtue is obviously hiding something but no one dares bring it up given his appearance.
> 
> 2\. I basically implied that White Forest became Black City given how nature usually becomes technology based. I read theories that White Forest is for the pure souls while Black City is for sinful people given that people only talk about money and fame. However, the flaw is that homosexuality is considered a sin in the past compared to now (because in America, the views are slowly changing but given how the red states refuse gay marriage, it's kind of hard to advance ya know.)


	5. The Other Side of Sorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out that Virtue wasn't telling the full story concerning the twins and Ilyana plans to get the truth out of him before the twins strike back and kill them all…

Ash nearly yelped when Trip pushed him on the bed with needy eyes. He didn't know what came over the younger trainer but he was going to find out.

"Trip, what are you doing?" Ash questioned as he tried to push him off. He was surprised that the dirty blonde was stronger than he appeared to be.

"Ash…" He began in a low tone. "Do you love me?"

That question came out of the blue. Ash ended up tilting his head to the side confused as he backed up against the bed even more. "What are you talking about?"

The Unova trainer frowned at the question thrown back at him and continued. "Answer my question. Do you love me or not? You're always trying to talk to me, so I assume you love me."

Ash simply did not understand the concept of love. What was Trip trying to ask him? Sure he wanted to befriend Trip and the recent tournament might have been a step up in the right direction of being friends but love…that was something people like his friend Brock talked about. He never understood how Brock (and to a later extent Alder) could "fall head over heels" with the first girl that they lay their sights on. Was this what Trip was referring to?

"I wouldn't call it love." Ash tried to answer logically. "I don't think you even see us as friends. I would think love would be the last thing on my mind since you rarely talk to me."

Trip was taken back by this comment. Turning away from Ash, the flustered face was replaced with that of rage.

"What do you mean I don't talk to you?! You don't try hard enough!"

"Huh? But I always approach you fi-"

"It's everyone else before me and you know it!"

Ash was even more puzzled as Trip prevented him from moving away from him.

"I'll make you understand my feelings if you're this dense."

"Wait, wha-"

Ash was interrupted when the younger trainer forced a kiss on him. Taken back by this gesture, Ash tried to push back…but he found himself falling into the kiss. Trip liked the returned gesture and didn't hesitate breaking the kiss trying to get Ash out of his clothes.

"Trip…what are you…"

"Don't say anything…if you value his life…"

Despite being flustered, Ash heard what Trip said and tried to sit up. "What do you mean?"

Unbuttoning his pants, Trip apparently was going for the prize. Smiling widely he attempted to rub against the prize causing Ash to yelp.

"T-T-T-Trip?! What are you doing."

"You'll mine now Ash~"

"Trip, what are you-"

The sex would not happen when Ilyana came crashing into the room with Pikachu on her shoulder.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" She ordered despite the yellow mouse not being her Pokémon.

Pikachu at first wasn't going to listen to the purple haired woman but upon seeing his trainer in a rather…awkward situation, Pikachu panicked and unleashed sparks from his cheeks electrocuting both Ash and Trip. Trip ended up collapsing onto Ash's body not being able to take the shock while Ash was just in a daze for his Pokémon turning on him in time of need and for Trip being too close for comfort.

"Ilyana, the ultimate cock blocker." Est giggled as she was behind Ilyana and trying to get a peak at what happened in the room.

"I did what?" Ilyana ended up asking as she looked at her nephew and friend. "I hope that I wasn't being mean…"

Even though Est didn't get to see the position Ash and Trip were in, Paul did if only because Est was forcing him into the room to see the scene that would forever change his opinion about Ash.

"…I never knew you were into little kids." Was all Paul said as he tried to leave but Est wouldn't let him leave.

"You two this is serious! That spirit was in this room!" Ilyana cried out. "Did it go away?"

Ash recovered from the shock and shook the younger trainer. "Trip, are you alright? Trip!"

"Uhh…"

Trip opened his eyes to see Ash next to him. His cheeks flared up, as he was the one to push back this time. "D-Damn horny spirit…"

"See, I was right! That spirit did possess you and now it's gone with a thunder jolt."

"Thunder bolt." Est corrected to herself.

"R-Right. Anyway, I'm glad you two are okay now."

"Not…thanks…to you…" Trip grumbled.

Virtue instantly pushed his way through wondering what the hell went down in the room.

"It's taken care of Virtue." Ilyana said with a cute smile.

"R-Really…" He sighed. "I guess I can't talk to them now…"

"They'll be back…" Trip muttered.

"W-What? Why?" Ash wondered out loud.

"They'll be back…" Trip ended up repeating. "Just prepare yourselves next time…especially you Ash."

"H-Hey! You were normal until you got freaky with me!"

"I didn't need to hear that…" Paul complained as he pushed Est out of the way to get away from the room. Looking at panties sounded more appealing than the situation in the room.

"Hey Paul, wait! Don't leave me behind!" Est whined as she followed after the brooding teenager.

* * *

Despite Est trotting after the brooding trainer, she ended up leaving him alone to go bug someone else and it ended up being Dawn who ended up alone with him in another room. Dawn honestly couldn't understand Paul. One moment he acts like he cares and then the next he goes back to dismissing everyone like he doesn't know them. Dawn thought she got Paul's personality down the last time she saw him, but after not seeing him since the tournament, he might have went back to his uncaring self.

"Paul, you shouldn't be acting like that in a situation like this."

Paul only glared at Dawn as a response when he managed to get out of the house. "And you need to stop being so annoying. You weren't any help in Spirit Mansion."

"Me not being any help? That's messed up! All you did was be all cynical and almost got us both killed."

"…That was all you. All because you wear short skirts."

"What?!"

Paul tried to forget that awful memory. Not the panties mind you; the memories of the dead bodies they found in the trap door. Those bodies hit too close to home for him.

"Paul?"

"…It's nothing. You wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand?"

"…"

"I bet I would understand if you opened up to someone for a change and just told them what was on your mind. Sometimes I wonder how your brother deals with you."

The Sinnoh trainer continued to glare at the bluenette for that statement but kept to himself. Dawn realized she said the wrong thing to him. She would have to try again later and be more sensitive to the subject of family.

Peace would return to the place for a couple of hours (that was if Cilan would stop whining about being too close to Spirit Mansion) until it was late at night. That was when the twins would strike again with a similar intention as the first.

* * *

Trip woke up from his slumber to find himself in another bedroom. It wasn't the one he was sharing with Ash. In fact, it looked like this bed belonged to an adult. The idea snapped him out of his dizziness as he tried to leave. To his horror, his legs were chained to the bed. There was no way for him to escape the room especially not the bed.

"What the hell is this…"

"…I'm sorry Alastor."

It was odd to see Virtue walking into his own room wearing nothing but a kimono. Given the location they were in, it would be hard to obtain one and abnormal to wear one. In fact, that outfit looked very similar to what the male members of the Mephisto family wore. Trip looked down and realized he was in a similar outfit.

"W-What is this?!"

"…Alastor…can you forgive me?" Virtue repeated. The stern look he had worn for most of the day was replaced with that of deep sorrow and regret.

"Virtue…I'm not Alastor…" Trip mumbled but when he did he instantly felt his body tense up. He clutched at his heart and found it difficult to breathe. "No…I won't let you…take over me…again…"

"Alastor…how can I make it up to you?" Virtue questioned shyly, his voice threatening to crack. "What can I do to repay for my sins?"

"…Try it again…"

Trip tried to block any sound from coming from his mouth but it was like the vengeful spirits possessed him again.

"Love me…like you did that time…I want to do it again."

"…Are you sure?"

"…Yes…"

"No!"

Virtue wasted no time in taking initiative. Trip didn't know if he yelped or moan when the older man got on top of the bed pinning the dirty blonde down.

"Alastor…"

Trip's heart was beating faster as Virtue leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips. Trying to regain control of his body, Trip struggled to break free. Virtue didn't seem to notice and kept planting kisses on the younger trainer's neck. His entire body stiffened when Virtue tried to pull his kimono off.

"Virtue…" The spirit ended up whispering as he intended to embrace the older male. Trip thought the exact opposite though as he struggled to regain control.

_"No! I don't want this dammit! I'm ten! You can't do this in my body!"_

The spirit moaned with Virtue's touch. Pulling his kimono down revealed his bare skin, Virtue could see the scars on Trip's body that was accumulated over the years of abuse. He didn't seem to care though as he was convinced that the person he was having redemption sex with was Alastor. The older trainer did not hesitate to suck on the smaller one's nipples.

"Ahhh~"

_"No! Stop that right now dammit!"_

Trip for a second regained control and tried to kick Virtue off of him. Virtue took no heed and continued the assault. At this point, Trip and Alastor were fighting for dominance clinging to Virtue's neck while trying to kick him in the groin sending a mixed signal.

"What do you want?" Virtue asked as he prepared to unzip his fly.

Trip would not allow Alastor to say anything if his pride depended on it. Despite the stories claiming to be a fragile boy though, Alastor was able to dominate Trip's mind.

"I want you." He affirmed a second time. "I want you to take me like you did centuries ago. I was scared then…but I'm ready now."

 _"You fucking idiot!"_ Trip cursed as he continued to resist. _"You can't use this body! I'm younger than **you**! My body can't take someone like him!"_

Virtue wasn't listening when Alastor spoke to Trip.

"Shut up…"

"What?"

"You would allow that one boy you like do you if you had the chance…you can take it."

_"N-No, I can't! Y-You realize I'm too young for that stuff! You're supposed to be the rational one! Realize that, dammit!"_

Virtue would have forgotten his moral standards, but there was always someone to cockblock him.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

The same electric rodent appeared through the doorway this time with his original trainer and electrocuted the older man. The man screamed as he came back to his senses. The spirit inside of him vanished just as quickly. Alastor literally shrieked as he withdrew himself from the dirty blonde apparently.

"Trip!" Ash called out being the one to rescue him this time.

Est looked through the door and just chuckled. "The Trap is absolute jailbait."

Regaining his senses, Trip was able to move his own body. He instantly glared at the little witch for the name-calling.

"Est…"

"Trip, you okay?" Ash questioned as he glared at Virtue who was repossessing his mind and coming to. "What the hell were you thinking Virtue?!"

"Uh…what did I just…"

Ash was already mad at himself for Trip being possessed this afternoon, but he didn't expect Trip to be the target again. The man they put their trust in was trying to do something inappropriate to the young trainer and it wouldn't have ended well if he didn't step in with Pikachu.

"You tried to attack Trip!" Ash shouted at the older male. "You're supposed to be taking care of the spirits, not letting them possess you!"

Virtue did nothing when Ash sucker punched him in the face to knock him away from the dirty blonde. If he wasn't awake, then he was now. Est just chuckled at the sight while Trip gawked at the scene.

"A-Ash!"

Cilan was too late to come in and pull Ash away. Ilyana ran inside the room and helped Virtue up horrified at what the Kanto trainer did.

"Virtue, are you okay?"

"Not…really…" Virtue admitted as he allowed the purple haired woman to help him stand. "I can't believe…that happened…"

Virtue glanced at Trip who didn't seem to realize that he was naked. Ash turned around to see Trip's reaction only for his face to turn red to get a good look at him. Paul who was peaking in also noticed Trip's awkward appearance and pulled his head out of the room where Dawn and Iris were. The photographer looked down, blushed and covered up.

"…My apologies…" Virtue stressed as he turned away from the Unova trainer. "I let my weakness get the best of me. I don't deserve to be called a spirit hunter…"

"What is your relationship with him?" Trip brought forth forcing the blush on his face to disappear and get serious. "You weren't telling the whole truth when you spoke of your relationship with Alastor. What are you trying to hide?"

"Nothing…nothing at all…"

"Hey! You can't hide anything from me!" Est declared as she pointed at the brunette. "Something sexual happened between you and this Alastor kid! My witch's sense is tingling."

"You mean you're getting excited?" Trip corrected.

"W-What?! Oh fuck you Trip! Fuck you and your…your…"

"Please Virtue, tell us the truth." Ilyana pleaded with her puppy dog eyes. "If we don't know the full story, then we might not be able to stop the twins."

"…But…" Virtue stared down at the floor similar to a five year old who had been scolded by his parents for doing something bad.

"Please!"

"…"

* * *

_…Okay…there was something Virtue did not want to tell you kids. It was concerning the relationship between him and Alastor. The relationship was very complicated. In fact, it wasn't even healthy. Virtue had an unhealthy obsession with the little boy after he started to hang out with him sooner. It was a sin to have these feelings for a young boy as small as Alastor, yet when he took care of the boy as his own, he couldn't deny these feelings. It was like the snake telling Eve to take a bite out of the Apple of Eden._

_Time went on and Virtue started to make passes at the unaware Alastor. At first, it was innocent gestures like patting the kid on the head. Soon, it became more suggestive as it went from patting the head to rubbing his arm and then just going lower from there. At times, he would lift his chin up and use the excuse that he had something on his face just to examine those innocent red eyes. Before long, he would embrace the young boy every time he saw him and tell him sweet nothings that he wouldn't understand. Finally, it got to the point where he would give quick kisses on his cheek. Alas, they all looked like sweet, innocent gestures to the normal eye but Virtue knew better. It was to lure Alastor into a false sense of security. Alastor didn't seem to mind being touched by an older man…maybe it was because he was scared to speak up…_

_When Alma was at the peak of her sanity that was when Virtue made the crucial mistake…_

_…_

_…He had sex with Alastor._

_It was an act that he shouldn't have had done, but his lust won out. At night, he made sure to chase Dusk and Darlene out of his place and insisted he would walk Alastor back to the mansion since it was late. What ended up happening was Virtue tricked the boy into staying behind and offered him a spot on his bed. Alastor happily replied as he trotted over to the bed. Virtue then politely asked Alastor to take his clothes off. The red eyed boy obeyed the older trainer as he did just that._

_From there, that was when he lost control. He didn't know if Alastor told him to stop. It wouldn't matter because he kept going wanting to fulfill his_ desire…

* * *

Virtue's voice trailed off after that. He didn't want to get descriptive and for good reasons. He could already see the disgusted faces on everyone's face…or rather in his mind he convinced himself that they were all disgusted with his actions.

He wasn't too far from the truth though. Everyone was indeed horrified but to a certain degree. Est didn't seemed disturbed at all, and there was something wrong with that. Ash did not understand what Virtue did at all and just stared at everyone in confusion wondering how bad it was. Examining Trip's expression though, the Kanto trainer could see that the color on his face disappeared at the explanation as he covered himself up more than he already was. No one could figure out what Cilan and Ilyana were thinking but Dawn and Iris looked ready to cry. Paul was the only one disgusted by this man's actions and he would have made it obvious if not for Virtue continuing where he left off.

"I'm probably the reason why Alastor killed himself with his sister and taking revenge on everyone else…I stole something from him that he'll never be able to get back…"

"Stole what?" Ash had to ask adding to the tension more.

"Ash…is there a limit to how much of a kid you can be?" Iris asked in a sad tone.

"I honestly don't understand what happened." Ash admitted tilting his head.

"So retarded…" Paul and Trip muttered at the same time causing Ash to fume. They did not respond to his question either.

"You'll find out what it means in due time Ash…" Virtue grumbled. "But all I can say is I committed a deadly sin…the only way to atone for it is to defeat them and allow them to rest in peace…and then maybe I can be sent to hell afterwards too…"

"Don't say stuff like that." Ilyana said darkly as she stood up.

"Ilyana?" Est called out noticing the aura around her was different.

"You say that it was a sin to make love to the one you treasured. You make it seem like it's a sin, but what of Alastor? Did he ever tell you to stop? Did he feel the same way as you?"

"I don't think he did…"

"That's a lie! Why would he take control of my sweet little nephew to see you if he didn't like you?!"

"!"

"W-Wha?!"

"You almost came onto my nephew because you could hear his voice telling you to. Do you think that he did that just to make you feel bad?! You described Alastor as a kind hearted individual, so don't say he didn't do that to spite you."

"Ilyana…calm down…" Est muttered to herself as she moved away from the purple haired woman.

"I won't calm down if my nephew is in danger!"

Est decided it was best to hide from Paul if the woman she was supposed to protect decided to lash out at her. Paul grumbled at her as a response. Dawn saw this and frowned.

"If those twins lay a finger on my nephew…no…if you even think of touching him, I will make you pay as a member of the Mephisto family."

Everyone could feel that the purple haired woman was serious by her declaration. It was embarrassing for Trip to hear but it was nice to know that Ilyana had some spunk. Virtue who had a depressed expression on his lips suddenly smirked as he turned away. "I hope you'll hold onto your end of the deal if I lose control."

"Eh?"

"I'm going to get some fresh air. I won't let them catch me off guard again, I guarantee it."

As Virtue left, the confidence in her facial expression went away as she snuggled to her nephew. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this! I'll work really hard to make sure that doesn't happen to you again!"

"Ilyana…I'll be fine."

"No, it's not fine! I'm not going to let you down!"

"Can't breathe…"

While things calmed down because of Ilyana's change of mood, it didn't change the fact that Ash was feeling different after what Virtue did. He had no idea why this feeling of irritation was around and made him secretly slip out of the room to talk to Virtue one on one. Ash wasn't the only one who had the same thoughts. Paul wanted to get away from this drama. He wasn't an emotional person so seeing people reacting in different ways made him uncomfortable. The scene before him with Trip and his aunt also made him feel…irked to the point he just wanted to throw his hands in the air and give up. While Iris and Cilan were trying to pull Ilyana off of her nephew, Paul ended up slipping out of the room too but decided not to go outside where Virtue and Ash would be. Dawn eyed him as he left, but didn't pursue him in fear of annoying him even more.

* * *

Paul ended up sitting alone outside using the window to avoid having to go through the front door. As long as he wasn't alone with anyone, he shouldn't have to worry about being possessed by those psycho twins. He just needed time alone to think.

The Sinnoh trainer never had the opportunity to stay with a group of people for an elongated period of time. If it were him, he would have left after Est was found, but because of these excuses that the twins were still around possessing Trip multiple times, he had to stay with them. He felt like if he left now, he would save himself from being killed, but the only adults in the room didn't see it like that.

Speaking of adults, Paul hated the affection the dirty blonde was receiving from his aunt. It might just be the annoyance of hanging around Trip's family, but when he witnessed that scene, he wanted to shove Trip away and be the one hugged. Maybe…just maybe…he was jealous that Trip had a family member that would openly embrace them unlike Paul and his older brother Reggie who despite taking care of him weren't that close especially given that incident with Brandon.

"…"

Closing his eyes, he tried to picture what his family would be doing if they were still alive. Probably the same thing they always did when they were alive; encourage Paul to get along with Reggie and to take care of his Pokémon. How far off the path he went after they died. He couldn't remember how they died but it was an "accident" according to the news. Paul wondered if that was the case sometimes given that he did call his parents that time and asked them to come back home since he was in a disagreement with his brother.

"…"

"What are you thinking about Paul?"

Paul opened his eyes to see the little witch behind him glowering in the moonlight. Nighttime was definitely the best time to glance at Est who sat beside him without Paul's consent.

"Probably more emo stuff, right? You're a downer you know that?"

"Why are you here? Do your job and look after the kid and his aunt before they get possessed."

Est puffed her cheeks as a response. "Hey, that's not nice! Just because I'm not there to stop anything doesn't me you can make fun of me."

"Oh, you admit that you were hopeless. I'm not the only one who thinks so."

"Oh fuck you!" Est cursed, as she wanted to take a broom and whack Paul in the back of the head. She didn't have it on her at the moment, so she was forced to endure the insults. "Anyways, why the hell are you out here? The spirits can possess anything and can get you if you're that lost in thought."

"Just thinking."

"…That's it?"

"Nothing you would care about."

"H-Hey! I take offense to that! I may look like an idiot, but I care about people."

Paul gave her a look like he was trying to find a word to describe the witch before shaking his head in annoyance.

"…Why doesn't the kid like showing affection to his aunt?"

Est just laughed. "Did you see how she reacted? Showering a kid with too much attention is just as bad as giving no attention."

"Oh…really? I wouldn't know that."

"What, you like Batman or something? No parents and lives alone with all the money in the world? Wait…"

The Sinnoh trainer did not react to her statement. Instead he stayed relatively silent as he continued to brood.

"What about you?" He ended up asking making the silence less awkward. "You give your life to that kid and his family. What about your parents?"

Est thought for a moment before speaking. "To be honest, I can't remember them at all. I was so young when they passed away. I ended up in an orphanage and the Mephisto family took me in when I was like…uh…how old…uh…seven! I think it was seven…"

"You don't keep track of time either?"

"No! Time doesn't matter at all!" Est declared as she continued with her rant. "Anyways, I was taken into the family and befriend Trip's mom Maddalen. Through her I met Ilyana and the three of us became friends training under Trip's grandfather."

"…How big is his family?"

"Very big! The Mephisto family is like a mini-clan! There is the main family and then the branch family. Then you got the servants that are trained to be the bodyguards of the main family. The branch family has to survive on their own…sucks they got the short end of the stick and they rarely have the chance to be the new head…but…" She lowered her hat as continued talking, her voice becoming noticeably quieter. "But then there was that incident that killed everyone in the Mephisto family except Trip's grandmother, his grandmother's best friend, his mother, his aunt, two other members of the family…and me…"

Paul was suddenly interested in the Mephisto family history if only because the word "killed" was brought up. "I'm not from around here. You're going to have to explain what this is about."

"…It was just a war between families. The Mephisto family and the Absolom family…they're on different sides of the map obviously. The Mephisto family is in Lacunosa Town and the Absolom was where Undella Town originally was. After the final clash though, the Absolom seized to exist and fled to many portions of the region. Rhia still continues to hunt down all the members and kill them for the death of her husband."

"What was the fighting about?"

"…I don't know…the fight was going on way before I was taken into the Mephisto family. All I know is the fight was about territory…there was a lot of bloodshed between the trainers and the Pokémon. The Mephisto family was winning because they produced three potential children to be the new head of a younger generation or go with the older generation to be the new head. Trip's grandfather ended up being the chosen one to lead the Mephisto family. He didn't want violence though. He just wanted to live in peace with the girl he just met and wanted to marry. He forced the Mephisto family to accept their marriage given Rhia was an outsider. Once they married, they had Maddalen and Ilyana…"

"…That's not what I was asking." Paul said rather harshly.

"…Sorry…you don't want to know about their backstory…but…let's just say the Mephisto family was always one step ahead of the Alsolom family in terms of keeping up with the generation and keeping their aura under control."

Est sighed in defeat as she continued to think of those happy days when she was still a naïve little girl and she could play with Maddalen and Ilyana happily despite the fighting. Closing her eyes, she realized that she only see bloodshed and tears at the end. The fact that the Champion and the Elite Four chose not to get involved made her blood boil. They could have prevented this tragedy if only they…

"Est?"

"W-What?"

"…Please don't cry. I'm not good with handling people who shed tears."

"W-W-Wha…I'm not…"

Est frowned realizing that these memories were not good for her. She stood up and bowed. "I'm sorry…I'll take my leave."

"W-Wait Est…"

The witch went back into the house via window and didn't come back out. Knowing that the witch shouldn't be left alone in that given state, Paul followed after her.

* * *

Paul noticed that Trip was in the kitchen when he climbed back into the window. Est was wiping her tears away trying to look more dignified but failing.

"Est?" Paul called out as he looked at the witch.

"I'm fine…" She muttered. "Just had something in my eye."

Trip frowned seeing the witch like this. "Hey, don't be crying on me now. If you're feeling this down then…"

"No! I'll be fine Trip! Just give me that drink now!"

Trip rolled his eyes as he went to the small fridge and pulled out two glasses of water.

"Water?! Come on Trip!"

"This will make you better."

Est sighed in defeat a second time as she took the glass from the younger trainer. Paul watched her gulped the water down.

"Oh that hit the spot!"

"Yeah…Paul, you want the other one? We all had a rough day."

"…That should apply to you." Paul muttered to himself as he snatched the glass from Trip. Drinking the water, he noticed that something was off. "…Wha…!"

Paul ended up dropping the glass on the floor as he ended up clenching at his chest. Looking toward the two he noticed that their expressions changed greatly. Their eye color changed to red as they leered him down.

"Oh, did that one have some sleeping powder in it, or is it poison powder?" Trip asked in a dark tone. "Oh well, you should have been more careful."

"What…you two are…"

"Alma and Alastor are still here, and we're going to have fun tonight." Est said with a smile as she went over to Paul and embraced him. "We'll be together forever now Dusk. Don't cheat on me again…"

Paul felt his vision fading. He should have realized those crazy twins would body surf to these two. Trip still had one of the twin's inside of him…but if that was the case wouldn't Virtue or Ilyana noticed the second time around or did they wait for an opportunity to possess Trip a third time. As for Est, one of the twins must have jumped into her body the minute he or she was forced out of Virtue's body.

 _Shoot…I screwed up._ Paul thought to himself as he collapsed into Est' arms. The twins just let out an evil chuckle into the night. The window opening on it's own signifying that it was time to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 6015 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. Did anyone notice that Est' Zorua was missing the entire time? This is the first sign that Est is possessed. The twins can take control of two people entirely but given how Est was so far in, they could control her at any time so Paul's speculation of the twins waiting for a chance isn't correct given she's been possessed the entire time, but no one noticed…which is another thing.
> 
> 2\. Virtue is distracted for once. He fails to notice that Trip and Est are possessed (and even himself to an extent). This is because Trip and Est as Est mentioned are part of the Mephisto family. They can control their aura better and since the Mephisto family is a group of assassins being able to hide your aura is crucial to getting the mission done. This applies to ghost possessing the family members too.
> 
> 3\. I decided to have Paul brood about his family life given that it's never given a spotlight in the Pokémon anime. Where are Paul's parents? Reggie is taking care of him only so…yeah…


	6. Before he Cheats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins intend to make Virtue suffer and they'll do it by killing off Paul who is very similar to Dusk in terms of appearance and personality. Ash and the group vow not only to save Paul but Trip and Est who are possessed by each twin knowing full well it's a trap to kill all those who escaped the mansion.

_Trip was sitting in absolute darkness not moving from his spot. He was too scared to get up and walk around because of the thought of taking a step and getting absorbed by the blackness. Instead he curled up into a ball waiting for someone to rescue him. It was stupid to think that given that he appeared to be independent but deep down, he was no different from his mother or his aunt. He needed someone to get him out of this jam._

_He was much weaker than he appeared to be mentally. His insecurities allowed the twins to possess him. Both kept switching with each other to give a different feel of his body. Alastor left him alone most of the time and apologized for using his body to do terrible things but Alma took pleasure with messing with Trip's head. It got to the point he tried to drown out both of them…but then Alma started prying into Trip's memories and seeing the sad life he lived._

_"You're such a sad boy." Alma taunted as she looked through his memories like he was an open book. "Your mother hates you for being born. Your father hates you because you're the reason why your mother left. Your grandmother hates you for making your mother suffer and not being born a woman that carry carry the Mephisto family pride. Your uncle hates you for looking so much like your mother and wanting to take advantage of you…"_

_"Stop…" Trip muttered weakly as he covered his ears. "I don't want to hear anymore…"_

_"Oh, but there's more. You had an older sister to look up to. Her name was Amanda. You wanted to be the Champion because of her originally and then the Champion of this region Alder encouraged you to be who you are today. But then shortly afterward, Amanda was in an accident that got her killed because of you. Your friends that you had mainly Paige, Tio, Tiana, Linda and Porter all turned their back on you. Porter betrayed you because you killed his girlfriend. Linda hates you for killing her best friend. Paige though…she hates you the most. You killed her sister and forced all the responsibilities her sister had on her. As for those other two twins, you just assumed they hate you because of Paige, but I can feel the hate this Paige person gives you. It's so strong…it reminds me of my hatred toward Darlene."_

_"Don't compare yourself to Paige…you don't understand her…" Trip growled but he still tried to block the sound out._

_"OH! And there's more! With no friends and family to turn to except this handsome man named Kurtz, you've been on your own since your Pokémon journey started and you were fine with being alone until you met that one boy I tried to fuck in your body."_

_"!"_

_"You like him because he's different. He's from another region with no idea what your backstory is. He's friendly, easygoing and loves his Pokémon dearly. He's your type."_

_"Shut up!" Trip shouted suddenly getting louder. Alma knew that concerning his feelings for the Kanto trainer set him off._

_"You're scared of making friends with him because you think he'll leave like the rest of your so called friends. If he finds out about your past, that's the end."_

_Trip stood up and charged her unexpectedly. The white haired spirit floated above the Unova trainer out of his reach and giggled._

_"It's funny that you're so different from my brother. My brother wanted the attention from Virtue and look what happened to him. You want the exact opposite and you'll fine with being alone if he just stays Ash."_

_"Damn bitch! Stop reading my feelings!"_

_"You want to be loved and appreciated…but I won't let that happen. I'm going to take this body and kill your beloved and his friends."_

_"You wouldn't dare!"_

_"I will. You won't be doing anything special. You'll just sit back and cry like you always do because you know you're not strong enough to save anyone. Not Amanda and definitely not Ash."_

_"Bitch!" He cursed as he tried to use the power of the aura to get at her. She already vanished though and left him in the darkness._

**_Ah-ha ha ha! If you really want your body back, you better find me, but can you in this deep darkness? Ah-ha-ha-ha!_ **

_Trip cursed as he chased after the voice. Anger motivated him to keep going._

* * *

Paul started to shift in his sleep before slowly opening his eyes. He instantly noticed that a bandage covered one of his eyes and he could barely see what was going on around him. All he knew was he was in a dark room filled with many red candles. The Sinnoh trainer tried to move from his spot, but nothing would move. He could feel his hands tied behind his back by a rope that wasn't going to budge anytime soon, and his legs were tied to the chair.

 _This…isn't good._ Paul thought to himself as he felt his heart beating faster due to the predicament he was in. _I have to…get out of here…but what happened?_

He shut his eyes trying to recall the events before ending up here. He remember Virtue revealing the details concerning the twins that he was planning to leave out and then Paul ended up alone with Est just talking about what Trip and her upbringing. The minute she went back into the kitchen where Trip was in though, he passed out and everything from there was a blur. The memory of taking the sleeping medicine was very hazy.

Suddenly, he heard laughter in the room. His line of sight wouldn't allow him to investigate the room, but from the corner of his eye, he caught two kids sitting in chairs opposite of each other. One of them was pouring tea into the other teacup. The light flickered in Paul's eyes but for a moment, he thought the tea being poured was blood. Blinking again, he noticed that evil eyes were turned toward him.

"Oh, he's awake. Such a naughty boy." Came a familiar voice.

"He's not supposed to see what we're doing~" Another voice added with a giggle. "Maybe I should cut his eye out so he doesn't see anything."

Paul flinched. He felt like he should have kept his mouth shut but ended up speaking anyway. "Est? Trip?"

Their laughter stopped. The candle almost went out, but that didn't mean that Paul could see red eyes glowing in his direction.

"No…you're not them…what did you do…to them?"

The laughter started up again only it wasn't the innocent giggles they had at the tea party. It was the laughter you heard in those horror movies when it concerned creepy little children.

"They're asleep." "Trip" replied innocently.

"They won't bother us while we deal with you and your friends." "Est" hummed as she went over to the Sinnoh trainer and embraced him catching him off guard. "This texture…this scent…it's the same as Dusk…"

"…Y-You're…Alma…"

"Tee-hee, it wasn't that hard to figure out." The female twin replied with a cruel smile as she pulled the bandage off of Paul's eye so he could see the room clearly.

Instantly, he felt nauseous when he saw what befallen him in the room. The room was dark filled with candles and for a second, Paul thought the candles were Litwick that were no longer moving. That wasn't the issue though. "Trip" had put the teapot and the cups on the side but now, Paul could see the liquid they poured into the cup was indeed blood. He couldn't believe that these twins were forcing Trip and Est to drink blood of humans.

There was more in the room though. There were four chairs in the room. One was the one that Paul was tied to, the other two was where the twins sat when having their little tea party while he was unconscious. There was someone in the fourth seat and unlike Paul, he didn't seem to be alive. Actually, this boy was obviously dead with his face, hands and feet being nothing but bones. The middle of him possibly could have been the exo-skeleton too, but you wouldn't be able to tell with the clothes that were forced on the body. Next to the skeleton seemed to be cotton…or human skin…Paul was hoping for the former rather than the latter.

"You see him?" Alma asked happily as she ended her embrace to go over to the dead body and embrace it. "This is Dusk. I kept him with me for ninety-nine years. When he's like this, he'll never leave me alone. He'll never choose that bitch over me. I'm the perfect match for him." She frowned. "But recently, I've been losing touch with him…and I feel like I need to move on." She laughed hysterically as she pointed toward Paul. "And then you came along and you're the splitting image of him! I found my new partner!"

"Alma…" Alastor began. "If you tried to make him like Dusk…why did you dress him up like that?"

_Dress up?!_

There was no mirror for Paul to see what the twins have done to him. On closer inspection one, could see that Paul was dressed up in a gothic Lolita fashion with chains on his hand and neck (but he couldn't feel it since it wasn't on too tight). The twins put a purple wig on his head. The wig was very long in terms of length and was tied into swirly twintails. Last but not least, they dressed him up in a dark purple dress that was easy to lift up but long enough to cover his legs.

"He's my doll. I want to have fun before the grand finale."

"…But you said you wanted to carve his heart out and put it into Dusk."

"I'll do that soon~" She hummed. "Dusk always needs a heart transfer. I knew he was sickly but to think he needed multiple heart transplants…"

Paul didn't say anything to her comment. The only thing running through his mind was how to get out of their grasp alive. Still…

"Why…why are you doing this?!"

That question didn't phase the twins one bit. Alma cackled as she lifted the skirt of Est's witch outfit up revealing her panties. This caused Paul to look away embarrassed.

"Why? It's simple. I love you. That's why I'm going to have fun with you right now. Al?"

"…Can't…this body…it's not right in this body…"

"…Suit yourself, but just watch over the mansion to make sure they won't come here right away. Tee-hee~"

Paul didn't want to be left alone with this crazed spirit, but Alastor dismissed himself as he disappeared into the darkness.

"Now, where do I start?"

This was going to be a long night and Ash needed to hurry up.

* * *

Even though everyone ended up going to bed before Paul was taken away, Ilyana was still up looking at her cell phone. She was honestly worried about the spirits possessing her nephew again, but she had no idea how to handle it. She wasn't good with using her aura like other members of the family. She may have lived with her mother but her aura powers will never be good as her sister's or the other members that survived.

She ended up calling one of them in the middle of the night to get his advice. He was taking forever to pick up the phone.

"…Come on…pick up."

The other line clicked and the purple haired girl could hear someone yawning on the other side. "It's late…what is it?"

"Dove, I have a question to ask."

The voice suddenly perked up. "Oh Ilyana, what can I do for you sweetie?"

His voice was kind and gentle. Ilyana wondered why her mother wasn't as mild as he was.

"Can you look up more information about Spirit Mansion…and about how to exorcist spirits?"

"Really, why?"

"Well…"

Ilyana ended up explaining to her relative called Dove about the events that have transpired the day. As Ilyana explained everything, Dove woke up and took notes before leaving his room to look for a book about spirits.

"It seems you don't really need information on Spirit Mansion." Dove told her on the other side of the phone. "This Virtue guy said everything that you need to know."

"But…"

"Getting more information from him does help though explain why the double suicide happened though. The mystery is gone because of a survivor of the curse. Speaking of curse…the only way to get rid of it is to simply have those spirits face their true selves and pass on."

"…If things were so easy, I think Virtue would have been able to do that by now. He seems like the dedicated type despite not telling the whole truth originally."

"I don't think it will be Virtue that will make the twins see the error of their ways. I think…little Trip and his friends are the only ones that can make them see the light."

Ilyana tilted her head in confusion. "What makes you think that?"

Dove just giggled on the other line not because of Ilyana's question but apparently because someone else woke up in the background and muttering curse words at him.

"Since when have I ever been wrong about these things sweet Ilyana?"

"…Not once…"

"Good, just trust my logic and you're be fine. I have to go now. Crow is going to hurt me for waking him up. He has his sword ready and everything."

Dove hung up just in time before he shrieked on the other side. Ilyana groaned as she closed her phone. Dove and Crow were the only members outside of her mother and sister that survived the massacre yet they were able to act like nothing happened despite losing everyone close to them. She wished she was as carefree as them…

Suddenly, she heard a creek coming from downstairs. In her mind, it was either the Pokémon making too much noise, the spirits taking control of someone or something else altogether. Sitting up from the bed she was sharing in a room with Est (who wasn't in the room by the way), she crept out of the room and followed the footsteps.

The footsteps could be heard going into the kitchen. Ilyana could clearly state that those footsteps belonged to a human given all the Pokémon were in the living room sleeping. Ilyana followed the sound thinking that this human would get a knife and hurt them.

"I won't let you hurt anyone!" Ilyana declared as she stepped into the kitchen with a Pokeball in hand.

Virtue was surprised that Ilyana was still awake, but he didn't show any surprise on his face. The stoic expression was plastered back on his face as he continued to look at the mail given to him.

"Virtue…are you possessed by the spirits or not?" Ilyana continued her determination not wavering.

"It's amazing how much you're willing to sacrifice for your nephew." Was all the brunette said as he looked toward the window. "I didn't leave the window open…"

"…What happened?" Ilyana had to asked.

"You should know. Use your aura and feel the disturbance."

Ilyana did just that. Instantly, she noticed that the auras of the dead twins were here, but it was just residential aura at this point of time.

"…I checked the rooms…and that kid that looks like Dusk is missing…" Virtue admitted. "I assumed he didn't heed my orders and…"

Virtue held up a piece of paper toward Ilyana. The purple haired trainer snatched it from his hands and skimmed through the text. Her eyes widened, as she had to read the text again to understand what the note was.

"Virtue this is…"

"…I would rather not have those kids upstairs involved but…"

Ilyana felt something boiling inside of her. She had never felt this emotion that many times in her life. It might be because she never had a reason to feel this emotion when she was spoiled silly. As a result, this emotion was seething inside of her and she took it out on the older gentleman.

"Then do something about it! I…I have to wake them up…"

Virtue said nothing as Ilyana rushed upstairs making a lot of noise in the process. She ended up dropping the paper on the floor, which Virtue picked up. He continued to scowl at the message written for him.

**We have the Dusk clone in our clutches. Come back to Spirit Mansion and watch us make a new doll out of him. Unless you apologize of course, but that's not going to happen given how stubborn you are. We're also taking those twins' body to perform the ritual. I hope they like blood on their hands. Tee hee hee~**

* * *

Paul knew he was shaking when it was all said and done. He honestly didn't anticipate that a vengeful ghost who had the hots for a guy that looked like him centuries ago would rape him. Then again, there was the thing called double standard so he didn't know if it was a crime for a girl to rape a guy or if it was possible. Plus, he did enjoy it.

Alma had forced him off the chair and onto the table to do the deed. There wasn't much she could do to him without any sex toys, but one thing was for certain, he did not protest once. It might have been like that because he was scared…or he secretly didn't mind having sex with Est…she claimed to be twenty years old, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal anyway…

While they were having sex, the spirit was mumbling someone else's name and that made Paul feel more like crap than usual. Maybe it was because he was disappointed with her using Est's body to moan "Dusk's" name instead of his own or maybe it was because the spirit (or was it Est) crying when they were doing it. Did Alma really want to do this or was she just forcing her unrequited feelings on a look alike? Thinking about it this way made Paul pity her despite being the victim.

"Heh…don't you feel horrible now?" Alma spoke. "I did it better than that bitch…"

Paul was still trying to catch his breath when Alma got off of him. She might have just left him there if Paul didn't open his mouth.

"…Are you satisfied?"

Est was probably feeling extreme pain when Alma used her magic to turn Est's head 180 degrees behind her, the witch's purple eyes dilating as she stared at Paul.

"…He wouldn't want this…"

"Wouldn't want it?" Alma questioned as she turned her head back forward and laughing like a maniac. "What are you talking about? Ha-ha-ha! Of course he would! He chose that cunt over me! She seduced him with her looks! I was meant for him and then he expects me to forgive that whore?!"

Alma turned around with a deformed expression on her face as she charged at Paul, wrapping her hands around his neck. This caught him off guard because he was still trying to relax and she was blocking his windpipe.

"What would you know?! You're just a pathetic human that can't make a single friend nor get a date! Just from reading this witch's mind, she already knows that you're a failure at communication if you can't even start a simple conversation!"

The words were like a spear that was piecing his body. He couldn't even lift his hand to her arm attempting to get her to stop.

"It's funny that you and Dusk are so similar. Not only do you not understand a girl's heart, but you expect us to forgive you despite being at fault! Why the hell did you lead me on only to choose that cunt?! Why?!"

She was completely losing if she couldn't tell the difference if she was talking to Paul or the deceased Dusk. Paul felt his vision blurring. He tried to speak or fight back, but he couldn't even do that. Just when he thought he was going to run out of oxygen, Alma pulled back, her hands at her own throat now. The purple haired trainer wheezed trying to catch his breath.

"What are you doing?!" Paul could hear Alma scream as she backed up away from Paul.

"Won't…let you…hurt him…"

Paul glanced up weakly hearing a darker, deeper voice coming from Est's body. He was certain that was the real Est fighting against her possessor.

"Go back to the back of your mind…coward!" Alma screamed as she was trying to stop Est's hands from wrapping around her neck.

"If…you don't…leave him alone…I'll claw my throat out…" Est threatened as she began to scratch at it. "My nails…are sharp…"

"No, no, no! I need a body now! Not yet!"

"Get…away from him dammit!" Est turned to Paul in desperation as she shouted. "Get out of here now!"

Paul made an effort to move his legs, but couldn't do that. Alma knew she had to do something quickly. She slowly walked over to Dusk's body and grabbed the humerus bone on the body and faced Paul.

"He's not…going anywhere…"

The Sinnoh trainer didn't get a chance to react as Alma charged at Paul and whacked him on the back of the head with the bone knocking him out. On the down side, the humerus bone broke in two when it was used as a club. Alma wasn't done though as she focused her magic on Est's body.

"Go back to sleep!" She screamed as a huge aura was released from her body. Her eyes were hidden before they showed the same red eyes. "Ruining my fun…now, what am I going to do with you?"

* * *

"WHAT?!"

Ash was wide awake now with the news that Ilyana announced. It was bad news so of course Ash would be focused. Cilan just wanted to go back to sleep. He didn't want to deal with haunted mansions, spirits or dead bodies anymore. The grass gym leader just wanted to put this all behind him and consider it a dream. No one would allow him to do that and it was very irritating.

"As I said, those twins are using Trip and Est to do their dirty work…they took your friend…" Ilyana muttered.

"Honestly…" Cilan muttered darkly as he was trying to force himself awake. "If you know that these twins are going to possess those with spiritual powers, why didn't you guard them?"

"They're not supposed to be able to possess someone so quickly." Virtue admitted. "I know that I was being controlled by them, but Alma did it when I wasn't focused. If the mind and body are focused on one thing and is strong, they cannot possess you right away, but apparently those two seem to have an incredibly weak mind…or Alma and Alastor are attacking a portion of their mind they don't want to reveal to anyone and using that as blackmail to control them…"

"Is that true?" Ilyana questioned, her expression expressing great sorrow.

"This has happened to many of the trainer's they possess. Possess them, look into the part of their mind they want to shut away and exploit it for all it's worth."

"…That's…cruel…especially for those two…"

"Why?" Iris asked. "Why is that bad?"

"…They both had hard lives…" Ilyana said, "Est is strong, but she blames herself for the incident. Trip…"

Ash stared at Ilyana trying to understand what she was going to say for the younger trainer.

"…He keeps everything to himself so that probably explains why they're taking advantage of him…"

"He keeps to himself? Why didn't we know that?" Cilan asked but if you pay attention to his tone of voice, it was brimming with sarcasm.

"It's so rare for him to reach out to anyone." She continued. "If he does and the person doesn't notice, he gets extremely frustrated, but I guess he gets that from his mother."

Ash suddenly recalled the conversation he had with the Unova trainer when one of the twins possessed him. It was brief but maybe what that spirit said was Trip's real feelings that he never wanted to admit. If that was the case…

"Ash, something wrong?" Dawn asked.

"Pika pi?"

"…We have to go help them."

"What?"

"We have to save them!"

"But Ash, it's a trap!"

"A-Axew!"

"While we're reminiscing of the past, those twins might be hurting Trip and Est even more! And I don't want to know what they might do to Paul if we don't hurry up!" The Kanto trainer turned toward his Pokémon. "Pikachu, are you with me?"

"Pika!"

Meloetta appeared beside Ash with a worried expression.

"Meoletta, you want to come along to, right?"

She nodded her head slowly causing Ash to smile. He turned to his comrades next. "Iris, Dawn, Cilan…I know it's too much to ask for especially since we almost died today, but will you come with me to save them?"

The trio was quiet as they honestly didn't want to go back to Spirit Mansion if they couldn't help it. Ash knew he had to persuade them and continued. "Everyone…we have to do this. It's a trap…even I can see that, but abandoning the people dear to me for my own life is something I cannot do. Iris, Cilan…Dawn…I can't do this alone…I have learned in the past that if I try to do things alone, it won't end well, which is why…"

"You don't have to keep repeating what you say." Iris said with a sigh. "I'll go."

"Iris…"

"Don't get me wrong Ash! I'm going because I know how you are when it comes to these things."

"Axew~"

The grass gym leader shook his head. "Iris…"

"Cilan, I know you don't want us to go back to the mansion, but Ash is right. We can't just leave Trip and everyone else in there. Who knows, we might be able to break the curse that is on us because we went in."

"We're not cursed! Curses don't exist! Magic doesn't exist!"

Rolling her eyes, Iris joined Ash's side to show that she wasn't going to go back on her word. At first, Dawn didn't say anything. Piplup (who was by her side) was lifted into her arms. They exchanged a meaningful glance before both had a determined look in their eyes.

"We're going with you!"

"Piplup! Piplup!"

"D-Dawn, not you too…"

"Don't worry Cilan. Everything will be okay!"

Cilan grumbled something about how things will turn out for the worst if she says something like that. Dawn joined Ash's side along leaving Cilan pondering whether or not to follow them to their deaths.

 _This is troublesome._ Cilan thought darkly to himself honestly not wanting to go. _If I let Ash go though…then we might lose the hero that can get Zekrom…and my master will never forgive me for that…so…_

"Cilan, are you chickening out?" Iris said in a daring tone. "You're a man. I know you're scared of ghost, but you're not going to have us go alone, are you?"

"I'll go." He finally spoke. "I'll go...even though the flavor of this return trip will become sour."

The group cheered at Cilan going with them, as they all got ready to go. Ilyana was going to say she wanted to go but Virtue stopped her.

"W-What?"

"I must speak to you after they leave…"

"…Don't tell me you'll…"

"I'll tell you later…just help them out."

* * *

Alma met up with Alastor on the top of their mansion. Alastor was sitting near the edge of the roof where one wrong step could kill the body that he was possessing.

"I don't think what you did was necessary." The male twin mumbled as his sister glared at him as a response. "He may look like Dusk, but he isn't…"

"He's Dusk…just reincarnated." Alma said simply as the aura around her started to show. "I'm going to capture Darlene's reincarnation and show her what happens when she destroys our happiness."

 _What do you mean by "our?"_ Alastor questioned as he started to shiver. _Darlene wasn't at fault...it was all Virtue's fault…_

"We're going to have an audience tonight..." She continued. "We're going to have a grand ball tonight…"

"Sis…"

"We'll show Virtue that we'll never forgive him for his sin. Never."

Alma at first smiled before she broke out into horrendous laughter that was followed with Alastor giving her a nervous smile. He was starting to question everything now with all he has seen with these trainers and what he was reading from the boy he was possessing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 5516 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. I just made three new OCs that are part of the family. They won't be elaborated on too much though because this story is about the characters of the Spirit Mansion. Not about the Mephisto family.
> 
> 2\. Ash is referring to the time when he went alone in Pokémon the Movie 2000. He went alone to do his quest and almost got himself killed. He tried again in the third movie and he would not have gotten far without Misty and Brock. Later movies, he doesn't do things on his own unless absolutely necessary, which shows character development.


	7. Be Our Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle for survival has begun. Virtue is adamant about getting the twins to rest in peace this time but the twins imply that if they rest in peace while in the possession of Trip and Est, they'll be sent to hell with them. Ash is certainty not going to let that happen as long as he's around, but what can he do against the supernatural beings?

"I really don't think we should be doing to the mansion!"

Despite the group wanting to save Paul, Trip and Est, Cilan was going back to his cowardly ways. Besides Dawn who was just grasping Cilan's fear of ghost, this was annoying Ash and Iris. As the oldest member of the group, he couldn't chicken out now.

"Cilan, you could have just stayed with the adults." Iris responded in a mocking tone, but she was frowning when she said it. "You can let us handle it."

"I-I know I-I got to be here, but going through the front door? That's suicide! The door may be broken but that doesn't mean we can waltz on in…"

Ash stopped and turned to Cilan. "Look Cilan, we need to do this now. We all saw those bodies…I don't want anyone close to me ending up like that…"

"I know but…"

The Kanto trainer didn't let him answer as he continued on with the ladies and the Pokémon. Cilan stood there for a couple of seconds before following after them. He didn't want them to die, but at this rate…

They noticed something different upon reaching the mansion. The door was fixed only with a different design. That design involved blood on the door that looked like a symbol for a ritual sacrifice. It sent shivers down the trainer's spine.

"S-So can we turn back-"

"Finish that sentence Cilan and I'll give you something to cry about." Iris grumbled. "Are we going in or not Ash?"

Ash gulped before nodding his head. The group slowly head toward the door expecting some traps, but surprisingly, it only took Ash turning the knob to open the door. The mansion was the same as it was when they escaped.

Once they made it inside though, the door closed in on them.

"Glad you could make it."

Standing before them was the little witch they had to save.

"Est!" Dawn called out.

Ash stepped in front of the Sinnoh coordinator. He knew something wasn't right. Iris and Cilan could feel it too.

"You're not Est!" Ash declared with confidence. "What have you done to her? And where is Trip and Paul?"

Est instantly frowned dropping the cute act almost immediately. "And here I thought you were the dumb one…then again, only a fool would think that I was the witch." She chuckled. "Then again, her body is mine now."

"That's not your body!" The Kanto trainer shouted. "Give it back to her!"

"And release Trip and Paul while you're at it!" Iris added.

"Pika!"

"Axew."

Alma looked at the group before sighing. "…There are rats here I don't want to serve."

When she said that, the ghost spirits appeared behind her. The trainers took out their balls ready to fight this time instead of running away, but Est didn't intend to battle.

"Leave."

The spirits charged at the group at lightning speed.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!"

"Axew, dragon rage!"

"Piplup, use hydro pump!"

The three Pokémon unleashed their attacks at the spirits. It seemed to have some effect and Cilan concluded that the spirits might actually be Pokémon if it was working this well. The spirits quickly shrugged it off though and charged toward Iris and Cilan. The spirits ended up combining into one huge spirit with claws and floated like a reaper. The grass gym leader felt like screaming when he saw the spirit and took back his thoughts.

"Take them out!" Alma ordered.

The group quickly rushed out of the way when the spirit tried to swipe at them. The spirit was fast though.

"Pikachu, electro ball!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu jumped off his trainer's back and charged up a ball of electricity. Firing the attack at its head, the yellow Pokémon thought he made a direct hit. The spirit quickly shrugged it off as it faced toward Cilan who was standing next to Iris.

"Stunfisk, use your thunderbolt!" The grass gym leader announced throwing his Pokéball out. Out came the troll fish that immediately unleashed static electricity from his body. The spirit continued to shrug the attack off as it swiped at Stunfisk and Cilan. Cilan reacted quickly but his Stunfisk didn't. Stunfisk was sent flying outside of the mansion immediately causing Cilan to turn around. "Oh no!"

"Cilan, don't leave yourself wide open! Look out!" Iris called out when Cilan attempted to run outside.

The spirit aimed its attack at the two Unova trainers and clawed at them both. The two were sent flying through the door and landed outside. Cilan reacted faster grabbing Iris and taking the blow when they landed outside. Of course, the grass gym leader landed on his unconscious Pokémon.

"Cilan!" Ash shouted.

"Iris!" Dawn added.

"Axew!"

The little green dragon quickly rushed out the door where his dragon trainer was thrown and the minute the dragon went outside, the door closed behind him trapping everyone else inside.

"The unwanted guests are gone. Now I can do my job now." The female spirit hummed as she floated into the air. "Take them out."

Ash and Dawn had to be quick or they wouldn't be as fortunate as Iris and Cilan were.

"Dawn, try attacking that thing from the back. I'll distract it from the front. Watch out for Alma."

"Right, Piplup, let's go."

"Piplup!"

"Pikachu, use iron tail!" Ash ordered.

The electric Pokémon charged at the blue spirit, his tail becoming gray as iron. Pikachu ended up going through the spirit when he tried to bash it on the head with his hard tail. If the spirits were ghost Pokémon, Pikachu would have been able to hit it unless it was a Shednija.

Alma watched with interest as Dawn got behind the spirit.

"Hydro pump again Piplup!"

Piplup hopped into the air and sprayed a powerful water pump behind the spirit. The water went through the spirit but still felt the pressure coming from the attack.

"Now switch to ice beam!"

The penguin closed his mouth before opening it again only shooting a beam of ice that followed after the hydro pump. Because the water went through the spirit, the ice ended up going through and freezing the spirit. This time the spirit felt the pain and struggled to break free.

"Pikachu, break the ice and use volt tackle!" Ash ordered.

The yellow rat hopped onto the ice. Glowing a fierce yellow, Pikachu charged with a body engulfed in electricity. Volt tackle was stronger than before to the point that Pikachu almost turned into a huge blue ball of electricity. Charging the spirit, Pikachu scored a direct hit on the spirit. This caused the ice around it to shatter and becoming water again causing more damage to the spirit. The spirit arched its neck back like it was in pain before disappearing.

"We did it!" Ash cheered as Pikachu landed next to his trainer.

"Not quite Ash. You don't know the basics of the spirits."

The Kanto trainer's eyes widened hearing the voice. "Trip?!"

Before he could say anything though, Ash felt something jab him in the back of the neck. His vision immediately became black as he collapsed to the ground only hearing Dawn and Pikachu calling out to him. It wasn't just Ash that was knocked out though. "Trip" ended up doing the same thing to Pikachu despite the Pokémon's size. Pikachu ended up passing out on the ground.

"Ash! Pikachu!"

Dawn soon met the same fate, as she too was karate chopped in the back of the neck and then collapsed. Piplup tried to react quickly but Alma wasn't that kind and ended up picking the penguin up and throwing him into the wall. She had the strength of a Pokémon that it knocked the blue penguin out.

"Alastor, take the Pokémon away and lock them up. I'll handle our guests."

"Ahh…you get to choose the outfits? No fair…"

"I've been waiting for this. I know exactly what suits them…hee-hee-hee…hah hah hah!"

* * *

"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING SOONER?!"

Virtue covered his ears when the purple haired trainer raised her voice. He assumed she was the quiet one, so he didn't expect his eardrums to be busted.

"I had faith in the kids?"

It was more of a question than an answer and that was not what Ilyana wanted to hear.

"You liar!" Ilyana screeched. "This was a do or die situation for those kids! I'm not losing my nephew and my best friend because you couldn't do your job!"

Virtue flinched at those words. Maybe he should have mentioned that if Alma and Alastor don't pass on soon, the bodies they were possessing would be dragged to hell. They've been in this world for too long, and Virtue read in a book that if evil spirits stay for more than 100 years, chances were that they would be taken away by the Grim Reaper of another world where they would never be able to reincarnate. Virtue didn't believe this at all when he first studied the text, but in retrospect he should be getting worried. Ilyana took it to the illogical extreme to scream at him. He was lucky she didn't sick her Pokémon on him. He was too old to be dodging their moves.

"Why did you wait until the last minute for this to happen?!"

Annoyed with the beeping in his ear, Virtue slowly lowered his hands away from his ear before facing the big breasted girl. "Its not that simple. I have been trying to do that for 100 years now and they won't listen to reason."

"…100 years…?"

"Yeah…a normal person would be dead…but because of their curse, I am forced to look the age I sinned. Pitiful isn't it?"

The purple haired girl folded her arms as if realizing something. "If you've been alive for that long…what about the Pokémon you had?"

"…They're all dead except Ninetales and Noctowl. Their species can live for a long time…although Noctowl is near the end…soon I'll be left with Ninetales…but when I'm gone…no one will take care of her."

"Don't say things like that."

"Say what? The fact that they'll be dead soon or I'll be gone once the twins finally decide to pass on?"

"You really blame yourself for these events…"

The exorcist glanced at Ilyana. He blinked before leering at her. "The answer should be obvious. I am the cause of this tragedy. If I could turn back time 100 years, I would do everything to prevent my old self from acting on those sexual urges…but God won't listen to my call…"

"That doesn't mean that Trip and Est should suffer because of you feeling sorry for yourself!"

"I'm not-"

"You are! If you just told Ash and his friends sooner, they wouldn't be in this situation! You're deliberately putting them in danger so you can play hero! I may not know what happened during those years where you tried to convince your friends, but I bet you got all of those trainers killed when you pulled this same stunt."

The brunette's eyes widened at these words. His hands were shaking when he lifted them up and wouldn't stop. Closing his eyes he looked away again but no words escaped his lips.

"…I'm going." She said. "I may be useless, but I'm not leaving my nephew and best friend in there."

"W-What?"

The shy girl turned her back on the exocist. "You may stay here if you want, but I will not have them be dragged to hell and killed. As a member of the Mephisto family, I know I have to stop these spirits from destroying themselves ever more so than they are now."

"You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because…I have to go with you…"

She was puzzled by this statement. Knowing he would have to explain himself, Virtue continued. "…When you put it that way…I have to go with you. I'm not much of a man or an exorcist if I let you go alone. You were the one that was attacked before."

"H-Hey! That caught me by surprise!"

"And these twins won't because?"

Puffing her cheeks she prepared to go out the door with her Pokéballs in hand. She stopped again as she turned to the brunette. "Hey…can I ask you something?"

"…What is it?"

"…When we get your friends to ascend…I want you to start your life over…and live your life to the fullest."

A request like this sounded ridiculous. There was no way a man that was way past his prime would be able to do that. His life was in the past. He could not live in the present even if the twins were to ascend and reincarnate. Despite this though, he couldn't help but smile. This woman really caught him off guard.

"Yeah…I'll consider that option…"

"Also…I want you to date me." Ilyana said quickly, her cheeks becoming pink as a Jigglypuff. "T-This way, you won't have your pedophile tendencies."

Now this request made him glare at her but it came off as a look that said, "Are you crazy?" instead of, "Don't remind me of my mistake!"

"I'll be seeing your nephew more often." He told her in a dry tone. "And yet you'll forgive me for these actions."

"…I believe that you are capable of atoning just as much as those twins…" Ilyana reminded him. "I think…if you give people a second chance, they're come around a better person…my father use to tell me that…but I'm the only one in the family that still remembers his words…my mother and my sister…"

"…Say no more."

Virtue walked over to the purple haired girl and patted her on the head. "I guess I'll have to make plans for the date if all goes well then."

The brunette found Ilyana rather cute how she flashed her bright smile like that. She reminded him of Alastor…err…that wasn't a good image at all.

"Yes! I got a date!" She squealed as she jumped in the air happily.

"Calm down. I get your happy, but you have a family member and his friends to save."

* * *

"Guuhh…where am I?"

The raven haired teen was slowly awakening. When he opened his eyes though, all he saw was darkness around him and a perfect image of a dinner table set up in front of him. The dinner table looked like a painting with how the colors blended in…but something was off…there was movement on the other side of the painting almost like it was alive.

"What…is going on?"

Ash tried to touch the painting but he was only met was an invisible wall.

"Huh? Don't tell me I'm…" Ash looked around. Given he was in this situation before, he knew what happened to him. "Hey! Let me out of here! I will not be stuck in a painting!"

The Kanto trainer continued to bang on the painting until he realized that nothing was going to happen. He tried to get a Pokémon out, but then he realized his Pokéballs were missing. He also realized he wasn't wearing his regular clothes. On his body was a tight blue suit buttoned all the way up and pants that didn't sag low. He wore pure white gloves and on his belt were fake balls.

"Oh no!" Ash cried out as he searched the pockets, but found nothing. Was was he supposed to do now?

Suddenly, he heard an eerie voice coming from the other side. Turning around, his eyes widened with what he was seeing. "Dawn? Dawn!"

* * *

Dawn slowly came to similar to Ash. Unlike the Kanto trainer whose fate was stuck in a painting, she was still in the real world. Like Ash though, she was forced into a baby blue dress that a duchess would wear. Looking toward the side, she noticed a mirror that has recently been dusted off revealing her reflection. Not only was she wearing a fancy dress, but also her shoes became high heels. Her hair was put into a neat bun and she wore some worn out jewelry. They might have been old because the twins' parents might have owned them. Still, the fact she was wearing something this fancy was ominous.

"Sis, she woke up." Dawn could hear "Trip's" voice announce.

"Good, we can start our dinner for our guest."

Dawn looked before her to see the twins on the other side of the dinner table she was sitting at. The twins dressed Trip up as a young butler while Est seemed to be dressed up as a young maid. On further inspection though, one could say they were actually cosplaying from a certain psychological series.

The Sinnoh coordinator's first reaction was to stand up and back up. It was then did she realize that her hands were tied to the chair along with her legs. They weren't going to let her leave the dinner table anytime soon.

"W-What is this?"

"It's a chain obviously. We don't want you to leave us." Alma said in a teasing tone. "We worked really hard to make the food in front of us."

Dawn looked around and didn't see anything. Sadly she ended up missing the painting that had Ash in it, but from her point of view, the painting was too dusty to see the person in the image.

"Where is Ash and the Pokémon?!...And where is Paul?"

"Oh that kid and the Pokémon are fine. They're not our main targets…yet." Alma hummed as she got up from her chair and made her way toward the bluenette. "Paul however…he's not doing so well…in fact…he's doing terrible."

Dawn gasped before trying to muster up a good glare. "If you hurt him, I won't forgive you!"

"Yes, yes. Threats will get you nowhere hunny. The only thing you can do is listen to my demands." Alma leaned into Dawn's ear and whispered. "All you have to do is be our guest. We're not asking much from you…heh heh heh…"

Her words sent shivers down Dawn's spine. It's not like she could refuse the offer. She wasn't hungry though…

"Okay…I'll do whatever you say…just let me see if Paul's okay after supper."

Alma just chuckled as she floated back to her side of the table. "Good! Good! Well Al, let's show her the meal! You're going to love it."

Alastor smiled cutely as he opened the dome that was hiding what was underneath it. Immediately Dawn screamed at what was on the plate.

"You like it? This was one of my favorites." Alma said happily. "We prepared it a week in advance for Virtue, but you can eat it too."

Dawn wanted to throw up instantly seeing a plate of tongues laid out in front of her. These tongues were not from animals or even Pokémon. They came from the mouth of a human that were cut off before and after death.

"I put it in a circle like how my host vision it." Alastor added.

Dawn didn't believe him at all. There was no way Trip would have a sick mind like this!

"Unfortunately, the tongues got rotten so we had to limit it down to just six." The male twin said with a frown.

"Six is plenty since this is only the appetizer."

"W-What?! Y-You don't expect me to…"

"Down the hatch." The twins said in union as Alastor stabbed at the tongue and poked it toward the bluenette. "We can't guarantee your boyfriend's safety if you refuse."

"No…"

Alastor wasn't listening as he forced the coordinator to open her mouth and chew on the tongue. Dawn's own tongue didn't like the taste at all. Her entire body tried to reject this foreign object from entering her system. There was a reason why Alastor was Alma's twin though as he was determined to see this through. He didn't care if she began gagging on the tongue, but he forced it down her throat and made her swallow it.

"It's just a human tongue." Alma said with a sigh seeing as how Dawn was wheezing almost immediately from being forced to chew the tongue. "These tongues are all from female trainers that reminded me of Darlene. Whenever I think about Darlene, I think about all the times she has lied to me to take Dusk away…"

Dawn noticed the melancholic look that Alma displayed before Alastor forced her to open her mouth again.

"Number two!"

"N-No!"

Alastor kept shoving the tongues into Dawn's mouth. Each tongue he put in, Dawn struggled to resist, but it was impossible with the way she was chained up. The twins ended up threatening her that she would have to eat her own vomit if she threw it up now and the thought alone was disturbing.

Before long, she gulped her sixth tongue and it was enough for Dawn wanting to throw up regardless of the threat. This was inhuman and no one should have to be forced to become a humanitarian.

"We got the main dish ready." Alastor continued as he opened up the next dome on the table. This one looked normal so at first Dawn's heartbeat calmed but then Alastor explained what exactly was the main course. "Skin is edible regardless if it's a human or Pokémon. There was always a saying that skin is the best part of the animal."

"No…"

The twins seemed to be going for an appealing cuisine, but it ended up looking intimidating. The skin looked like it ripped off of dead trainers and then squished together to make it look like mash potatoes. It would have succeeded if there wasn't small hairs poking out of it along with blood stains, muscles that got thrown in there from the human body and spots that looked like some of the humans they ripped the skin off of were infected by something or even poisoned.

"We tried our best to shave the hair off, but then that would ruin the appeal." Alma said with a laugh. "Then again, the skin here are only taken from men…heh heh…these men reminded me of Dusk and that monster Virtue so much…Darlene took them away and changed their personality…I will never forgive her…but I can't forgive men for being seduced by that witch…"

Dawn was screaming now and didn't want to do this anymore. It was like her brain shut down and all she wanted to do was rush back out and abandon her friends and Pokémon. The twins weren't going to allow that though especially when Alastor took a spoon from the side and scooped the skin up like it was mash potatoes. He didn't even bother ordering her to open her mouth. He just shoved the skin in her mouth causing her to cough particles up. He wouldn't let her do that as he grabbed her head and bashed it toward the table.

"You're eating everything including everything you spit out." The male spirit said. "Do I make myself clear?"

Dawn was sobbing at this point. She didn't want to do this anymore. Her stomach and brain were telling her not to do this anymore, but she could only nod her head as he forced her to lick the table where the skin was. Ash banged against the painting screaming at the twins (or rather "Trip" and "Est") to stop this bullying. His voice could not be heard and Dawn's attention wasn't toward the old painting covered in dust. Alma saw Ash pounding on the painting and just chuckled.

"Maybe you should give her a drink with the meal." Alma suggested to her brother.

Alastor forced Dawn's head back up so she was sitting straight before going over to the table and opening a third dome with the drink. The coordinator's eyes quivered at the sight of the tall glass filled with a red substance.

"Fortunately for you, this isn't human blood."

"Unfortunately for you, this is Pokémon blood. Oh to think we could have these Pokémon if we were still alive."

"No more…no more…" Dawn cried. "I can't…I can't…"

"You're only drinking copper." The female spirit reminded her rolling her as a response. "It will only taste like copper."

"You killed…Pokémon…innocent…Pokémon…"

"We didn't want the Pokémon to go to waste along with the trainer's corpses so here it is. Al, do your thing."

"Yes Al."

The bluenette kept screaming as he forced her head back and coercive her into chugging down the entire glass in one gulp. He wouldn't even give her stomach the time to adjust. Yes the blood was more bearable than the skin, but when combined with said skin that she was still having a hard time swallowing, Dawn felt like she tasted death.

The glass was eventually empty as Alastor put the glass back down. Dawn wouldn't stop coughing now and had to hold up anything she swallowed but between her coughing and sobbing, she was obviously broken from this.

"We're finishing up bitch." Alastor said darkly as he took the spoon again and shoved the rest down her throat. He was pleased to hear choking noises coming from her and took the spoon out. He chuckled. "Seriously, if you can't handle skin, how can you handle a dick in your mouth?"

Alma continued to smile as Dawn eventually gave up the resistance. This allowed the food to go down easily but she felt her consciousness slipping. What would happen if she fainted? Would they kill her and this torture will be for nothing? It didn't matter. She just wanted this hell to end.

"Isn't there a dessert?" Alastor asked as he forced Dawn to lick the bowl clean of human organs.

Alma shook her head. "Of course not. If we had a head, we would have used that Dusk look alike. However, you know how the story goes."

Alastor released his grip on Dawn's hair as he folded his arms. "You got a point. The head according to Trip wouldn't be able to move around and talk anyway. It's not fantasy and unless we possess the head, it won't happen."

"Damn…maybe I should have killed those two outside and used them as the dessert…but that's too much work."

Dawn did not catch the threat they were implying to Iris and Cilan if the two were still outside of the mansion trying to get in. The tears wouldn't stop flowing down her cheeks and if they wouldn't let her throw up, then she would have stomach problems later on in the day…if she survived at all.

"Aw, stop your crying bitch." Alma cursed. "Your fake tears won't work on us like it did in the past."

"I'm…not Darlene…" Dawn sobbed as she tilted her head down. She didn't even want to look at the kids she was supposed to save.

"Oh boo hoo. At least you fulfilled your side of the bargain." Alma said trying to be reassuring but acting more like a pompous asshole. "We'll let you see your boyfriend."

"Paul…"

Alma got up from her side of the table taking out a chain from underneath Est's hat.

"But who said we were going to let you walk around freely? If we're going to take you to Paul, we're going to treat you like the little bitch you are."

While Alastor was removing the chains that bounded the Sinnoh coordinator, Est just snapped a chain on Dawn's neck and pulled her the minute Dawn was free from that cursed chair.

"Gahh!"

Dawn felt a migraine coming around especially after her supper. What were they going to do to her now?

"And a bitch must be bare no matter what."

With that said, she took the clothes that they forced onto the bluenette and ripped it off. Dawn shrieked again as they exposed her naked flesh.

"Your body isn't even impressive yet Dusk chose this?!" Alma questioned in rage yanking at the dog chain. "Well don't just sit there. Get on all fours and walk!"

Dawn shook her head weakly earning her a kick from "Est". The pain to her stomach was becoming too much to bear.

"Don't you disobey me or I'll make you eat more human flesh. We still got plenty where that came from and they are passed its expiration date!"

"…Okay…"

"And while you're at it, bark like a dog until you get to the Dusk clone. Your appearance disgusts me."

Dawn only whined as a response like a kick puppy would. She continued to sob as she was forced to walk on all fours out of the kitchen naked. Alastor only chuckled at the sight before him. Once the two girls were out of the room, he looked at the painting and gave Ash an evil smile before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Ash was horrified at what he just witnessed. Unlike Dawn who was forbidden to throw up without disgusting consequences, Ash took the time to move away from the paintings vision to throw up in the corner of the blackness. It was a repulsive side to see one of his friends being force fed dead organs of humans and the blood of Pokémon. These twins were going too far to prove a point. The worse was they were committing these sins in the body of kids (even though Est was twice the age of Trip).

"Disgusting…" Ash thought out loud. "How could they…"

He tried to recover from the image as he tried to think what would happen next. He was stuck inside the painting, the Pokémon were in another section of the mansion, Dawn was lead toward where Paul was being kept and his other friends were stuck outside. If the twins were able to do this cruel torture, what would stop them from persecuting the two when they reunited in that room?

"Dawn…and Paul…will die…" Ash convinced himself. When he did, he felt his heart racing. He couldn't stay here and let this happen. He had to save them as well as Trip and Est. What could he do though? They took Pikachu and his Pokéballs away when he was knocked out and he had no way of getting help…

"Melo…"

Ash looked up to see Meloetta looking at him from the other side of the painting. He smiled in relief realizing there was still hope.

"Meloetta! Can you hear me?!"

"Melo…Meloetta!"

Ash smiled as his expression became serious. "Please, do all in your power to get help. I can't do anything from here…maybe you can get Ilyana and Virtue to come and help me out of this painting. Virtue has been here so long that he might know some spell to get me out or a Pokémon with a move or anything…just get help, now!"

Meloetta was surprised at the Kanto trainer raising his voice, but he had a point. Things had to be done and fast before someone's head would be rolling down the stares. Meloetta nodded her head as she disappeared from vision and looked for a way out of the dining room. At first there seemed to be only one door, but upon further inspection of said door, Alastor didn't close the door all the way. Using her psychic powers, Meloetta cracked the door opened and flew outside of the room.

_Meloetta…I'm counting on you…everyone's life rests in your hands…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 5981 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. The spirit looks like that one Kid Icarus Uprising enemies that starts off as a huge ghost, but when attacked, it splits into two parts. The head and the pants and while the pants looks goofy as it is, it still packs a punch without the head. The head kind of floats around but has claws to damage Pit.
> 
> 2\. I looked online to see which portion of the skin was the softest. With how the Pokémon world works, it would be possible to use their powers to squish the skin and make it as fluffy as mash potatoes. You guys will probably never look at mash potatoes the same way again. Each human though is different including how hard and soft the skin can be. For some, the face is the softest and others are the arm and knee. Of course there's always the butt that is also soft…but I think you guys would be more grossed out if I were to write the skin came from male trainer's butts.


	8. My Heart Has a Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle for survival has begun. Virtue is adamant about getting the twins to rest in peace this time but the twins imply that if they rest in peace while in the possession of Trip and Est, they'll be sent to hell with them. Ash is certainty not going to let that happen as long as he's around, but what can he do against the supernatural beings?

Ilyana was in awe as she trailed after Virtue back to the mansion. The purple haired girl may have been clumsy but she was a fast runner. Virtue was the first guy to keep up with her speed and it made her heart race. Maddalen made it obvious that if she was going to find a man, it would have to be someone that was not only attracted and was "different", he would have to keep up with her physically and emotionally. He was doing great so far and she was expecting a date when this was all over.

They reached the front of the mansion where they saw Iris and Cilan with their Pokémon attacking at the door.

"Dammit! Why won't the door open?!" Iris asked as she picked up her Axew who was about to fall over after another dragon rage attack.

"Iris! Cilan!" Ilyana called out catching their attention. "What happened?"

"Ash and Dawn are on the other side…" The grass gym leader explained in an exasperated tone. "Those twins might…"

"Step aside."

Virtue wanted to assert this but Ilyana beat him to it. The two gym leaders stepped aside as a magic ring formed around the purple haired girl.

"I call upon thee…open sesame!"

The chant was not really worded this way, but the fact was that she was trying to accomplish a door-opening spell. The door didn't open though; it crumbled to dust that swirled in the wind.

"Wow…how did you do that?"

"Iris, there's no time for questions! We have to save them!"

The four rushed back into the mansion. Virtue used his magic to avoid triggering any traps that the twins might have set back up. They heard a Pokémon's cry that Cilan recognized instantly.

"Meloetta?"

Coming from a room behind the stairs, the music Pokémon was being chased by flying objects that aimed in her direction. Meloetta vanishing into thin air did not chase off her attackers as floating objects could sense where she was flying.

"Ninetales, use flamethrower!"

Virtue's nine tailed fox growled as she fired a flame from her mouth burning the objects that were following the legendary Pokémon. The body of the knives ended up scorched as they dropped to the floor with a clank noise. The spirits in control of the knives were quick to flee once they saw that Virtue made it into the mansion again. Slowly Meloetta came back into view once she felt that the poltergeist could no longer harm her.

"Meloetta!" Cilan called out again.

Recognizing her friends, Meloetta was quick to float into Cilan's arms making weak cries as she nuzzled his chest.

"What's wrong? Where are Ash and Dawn? Are they okay?"

They didn't have the time to for Meloetta to recover from the attack, but if they rushed the music Pokémon, she might have disappeared without giving them a straight answer. As soon as Meloetta calmed down, she floated into the air again and quickly led the group toward the kitchen.

Virtue was scrambling ahead of the group. He was praying that nothing bad happened to the kids in the short amount of time that they weren't being watched over. The kitchen was devoid of human life even though the table showed evidence that a meal occurred not too long ago. That wasn't the main attraction of this area though as Meloetta flew over to the painting.

"Ash!" The older man called out seeing the Kanto trainer banging his hands against the invisible wall. "I'm getting you out."

Closing his eyes he placed his hand on the painting and centered his spiritual powers inside the small dimension. He didn't need to blow up the painting at all or force the Kanto trainer out. He just needed enough power to destroy to remove the invisible wall and allow Ash to escape. As he glowed a bluish tint, the painting was becoming less of a portrait and realistic as when Ash banged on the painting again, he ended up tumbling forward rolling into the table and hitting his head.

"Oww…" The raven haired teen grumbled as he rubbed his head. That was a bad fall…but the pain he felt will never measure up to what Dawn was put through. "Dawn…"

"Ash!"

Iris and Cilan stormed into the room with Ilyana proceeding to help him out. It wasn't needed as Ash stood up still dizzy but needed to hold himself against the nearby chair.

"Ash, what happened in hear?" Iris questioned. She was shivering at what his response would be.

"…Terrible things…but…where's Pikachu? Where are my Pokémon?"

"We thought you had them…"

Getting a better look at Ash's clothes, the twins obviously stripped him and took his belongings. The Pokémon must have been in another location of the mansion.

"We don't have time to look for them. Those kids will die if they're left with those twins." Virtue warned. "We need to find them now."

"But Pikachu…"

"…We'll get them." Ilyana proclaims. "You and Virtue save them…we'll go find the Pokémon."

"Huh? In this mansion?! It's huge and we could die just exploring!" The grass gym leader exclaimed.

"No…I think those two will be distracted to notice us finding the missing Pokémon." The purple haired girl explained. "And if you're with me…the spirits should stay away. I won't let them hurt either of you."

"Okay…but we need to do this now…"

"Axew…"

"You three…please stay safe." Ash mumbled as he shivered. It felt odd not being in his clothes and the thought of just being stripped and changed while unconscious worried him.

"We will…you too. Cilan, Iris, please follow me."

Ilyana wasted no time leaving the kitchen to search for the room where the Pokémon were hidden. Iris forced herself to remain optimistic as she followed behind Trip's aunt. As for Cilan, he just grumbled some more words of protests and trailed behind them like a tired Growlithe. Now it was just Ash and Virtue and the older man wasn't going to waste anytime checking to see if the Kanto trainer had any lifelong injuries. Virtue dashed off after them heading to the location where the twins resided. Ash could only follow him as soon as he was certain that Meloetta was right there with him.

* * *

After yanking her chains and dragging their victim up the stairs, Alma finally threw Dawn against the table where the tea party was being held.

"Hey Dusk, I brought your whore." She hummed as she actually took the chain off of the bluenette.

Paul was slowly coming to after having been knocked out by that huge bone. He could barely hear what the twins were whispering to each other as he noticed a familiar girl crawling toward him.

"Uh…Dawn?"

The Sinnoh coordinator threw her arms around the stoic teen and began to bawl into his back. Hearing her cry made him wide awake as he slowly looked down to where she was. "D-Dawn?"

"I'm so sorry…" The bluenette wept, "I was supposed to save you but I…I…"

The first thing that came to mind was the cold trainer wanted to warm the young girl. His hands were still tied to the chair so he couldn't do something like awkwardly hugging the girl. Dawn didn't even seem to realize he was tied up and wearing a Lolita outfit.

"H-Hey…Dawn…it's okay…I'm here…"

How ironic he would be the one to say those words when he was the one kidnapped and raped. Yet…Dawn's skin was too pale for his liking. What did the twins do to her?

"Aww, what a cute reunion." Alma hummed as the two flinched when hearing her voice. "It makes me want to puke seeing you two together, but a promise is a promise **Dusk and Darlene**."

The female spirit cackled as flames started to appear from her hand. Whatever power she was using was obviously hurting Est though because her hands looked like they were actually burning with the flames.

"I'm going to have so much fun torturing you just like 100 years ago." She hummed. "I'm just going to let you two enjoy your little reunion before I decide to burn you from the inside out. Oh, wouldn't that be fun to see your insides catch fire and then burn down to the very core of you until you're a skeleton."

The Sinnoh coordinator continued to sob into Paul's chest. This wasn't the time for her to be crying. Her hands were free and she could easily help untie the Sinnoh trainer…but her mental state was…

"Any last words before I fry you for dessert?"

If only his hands were untied…he would be able to do something instead of feeling so helpless. It wasn't like Paul to feel like he couldn't do anything to stop this from happening. Slowly he looked into the crazy spirit's eyes and mustered up the best glare he good. Giving people the evil eye was the specialty…but he couldn't do it to Est…knowing that she was being hurt like them.

"…Are you satisfied?" He asked a second time. "Are you satisfied attacking people that aren't the ones who put you in this situation the first place?"

Alma frowned as the flames on her hand disappeared. Paul knew he was striking a nerve but…

"I am not Dusk! Dawn is not Darlene! Get it through your thick skull if you had one! Your hate should have ended after killing those two, but you're going to kill more innocent people, and for what? Revenge? Pleasure? It's not worth it you stupid spirit! Release Est now before you'll regret it."

"That's rich coming from you." Alma hissed as the flames on her hands appeared again. "I was planning to kill the bitch first and kill her in front of you but I changed my mind. I'll kill you both!"

Est's hands began to catch fire. If it were any other person, these flames would have left burn marks, but Est was obsessed with the occult and so far from what Trip's family had demonstrated, their magic was not some hocus pocus jumbo. It was real fire that would burn their bodies to ashes. Dawn was not in any position to escape. She continued to cling to Paul's shoulder refusing to let go. What could have been a situation where Dawn could untie Paul and allow the two to escape went out the drain and they were on death's bed ready to be roasted.

"Paul…I'm…sorry…I can't…"

"Idiot…if you just untied the ropes..."

"DIE!"

This was not the way he wanted to go. He wasn't supposed to die by creepy supernatural twins who wanted revenge with someone he had no relation to. If he was going to die, it would be something karmic considering the things he had done while in Sinnoh. Even if he was trying to change, it must not have been fast enough. And he was going to die with the sobbing girl he met last year with no way to comfort her.

A powerful flame stopped Alma's flame that came out of her hand. If the host were anyone else, there hands would have burned off. Alma growled feeling the presence of her enemy.

"Virtue…"

"Flamethrower again!"

The nine tale fox burned the door down completely with the second fire attack and attempted to hit Alma again. She jumped out of the way creating a distance between her and Paul. Virtue immediately rushed in with his Noctowl by his side.

"Why are you always ruining everything?!" Alma raged as she turned her attention to the older trainer. "You won't let me kill these people again!"

"Alma, you and Alastor must stop this! You cannot go on anymore without consequences!"

"We're already past that, stupid! You came onto my brother and then expect to have this holier than vow persona? Get the hell out!"

Alma was easily distracted by Virtue. She had no problem turning the flaming magic toward the man who has caused her the most suffering. Virtue ordered his Ninetales to use safeguard to shield him from the attack as Ninetales could withstand a powerful flame. Paul was just glad that he and Dawn dodged death for a few minutes because if Virtue died here, then they were next.

"Paul…Dawn…"

For the first time, Paul was glad to hear Ash's voice as he snuck in and headed toward them. Dawn looked up to see the Kanto trainer and squeezed him tightly causing him to yelp in pain.

"D-Dawn…"

"I want out of here Ash…I hate it…" Dawn cried. "They made me…they made me eat…"

"Dawn, don't say anymore. We're getting out of here." Ash said as he quickly untied the brooding trainer. Paul didn't understand why Ash could easily rip his bindings yet Paul felt like something was preventing him from leaving the chair. Anyone with supernatural senses could see Ash had blue aura on his arms when he ripped the bindings off. "Paul, I know I'm asking too much from you, but we have to stay so we can save Trip and Est. Everyone else already got the Pokémon and should be clearing a path to escape."

"That's reassuring." Paul admitted as he got up. There was no strength left in his body and he fell to his knees. "Gah…I guess that damn ghost did something to me…"

"P-Paul, are you going to be okay?" Dawn asked in worry still wiping her tears.

"Yes, you just need to leave before they get you."

"But if you're staying then…"

Ash stared toward the door and then toward Virtue with apprehension. The three young trainers were defenseless against the supernatural without their Pokémon to assist them. Ilyana's group needed to make haste if they didn't want any casualties.

* * *

Back with Ilyana's group, the purple haired trainer along with Iris and Cilan managed to find the room with the captive Pokémon. Despite the trapdoor with the dead Pokémon and the fact that they did indeed cut some of them up to serve for food, these Pokémon were just behind cages in no real danger of being put on a plate.

"They're all here." Iris exclaimed as Pikachu jumped into her arms. "I'm glad you're okay!"

"Pikachu! Pika pi?"

Cilan chuckled seeing Piplup being as energetic as ever even in this grim situation. Ilyana managed to collect everything else in the room that the twins left. The connoisseur though had his mind focused on the Pokéballs. This was his chance…to do his mission, but…

 _Is this really the time to do this?_ Cilan asked himself. _As a member of Team Plasma, I must take advantage of the situation. If I released the Pokémon, I could easily use the excuse I was possessed. But that man Virtue…he may be weak willed against these children, but he's observant. I cannot…take the risk, besides…_

"Cilan, we need to hurry to Ash now!" Iris exclaimed. "Ash doesn't have his Pokémon to support him!"

The green haired gym leader looked toward the dragon trainer and slowly nodded his head. What came to mind would have to wait for a later day. _For now, as Cilan the Striation gym leader instead of Cilan of the Shadow Triad, I will help my friends!_

* * *

When magical attacks were not hitting Virtue like they wanted, the twins resorted to using fake Pokémon to get rid of what Virtue had on him. Without them he would be defenseless against their dark magic.

Ash felt like he had seen this type of power being used before. It was when he went to save his mother against the Unknown and how the girl they were using created Pokémon based on her imagination. Ash had to fight an Entei for one and even if it was an imagination, its powers were real.

This was no different as they started to create Pokémon that were never seen before in Ash's book. Paul would bring up they were from another region. The appearance of most of them was pumpkins.

It would not take long for Ilyana's group to reach the room with the others. With Pokéballs in hand, one would think everything would be okay, but the minute they entered the room, a barrier was placed to prevent the balls from summoning the creatures. Only those who were outside of the Pokéballs were useful. Cilan cursed at how he should have just stayed outside.

Virtue reached for something but stopped confused. What was he reaching for? Besides his two Pokémon, he didn't have anything especially not a sword with how he grabbed for a non-existent sheath.

"Oh Virtue, what are you trying to get?" Alastor asked as he sent the fake pumpkin Pokémon over to Virtue. Ninetales and Noctowl couldn't protect him, but he found himself easily dodging the floating flames. "Its almost like you were reaching for a weapon. What, forget to bring a weapon to exorcise us?"

"Why would I do that? I care for you two." He growled as he looked behind him as if expecting someone to back him up. Why now of all times did he feel like something was out of place? "Alastor, you have to end this madness. I know you well. You would not hurt anyone against your will. You are hurting, please stop!"

Alastor was puzzled by his speech but just laughed off the pleading. "We are past the point of negotiation Virtue! I cannot stop now after what you did to me! You wound me deeply. If you died this time, I will be happy."

Flames shot out of his hand causing Virtue to roll out of the way even farther away from his Pokémon and those he's suppose to protect. He made sure Ninetales kept safeguard at Ash and the group.

"So please burn in the flames of hell!" Alastor shouted as the pumpkins that Alastor summoned focused solely on Virtue.

"Noctowl, just focus on Alma!" Virtue warned his owl seeing how it wanted to assist him. It hooted as a response before flying over to her. Alma easily avoided a wing attack before focusing on Ash's group who were defenseless. With Pikachu and Piplup at least, they could fight back. Ash and Dawn ordered their Pokémon to use long-range attacks. Pikachu attacked with thunderbolt while Piplup tried to dowse the flames with Bubblebeam. They were using magic now so normal attacks wouldn't work. Perhaps the spirits' rage was strong enough that it reflected in the magic beings they sent out.

"Shit, at this rate, we'll be killed if we don't leave the mansion…" Paul cursed.

"I'm not leaving without Trip!" Ash declared.

Ilyana agreed, as she would not leave her family behind. Paul frowned glancing at the little witch girl who floated above them wanting to burn them all to the ground. What could he do? He only got a response from Est once when Alma tried to kill him the first time. Perhaps, he could try to reach out to her again.

"Est, fight back!" He suddenly called out as Pikachu and Piplup tried to counter the flames only to be blown away. Ash and Dawn caught their Pokémon. Axew could only watch helplessly as his dragon rage wouldn't do much in an area like this. "You almost got her the first time! Now is the chance! You don't want Ilyana to get hurt, do you?"

Alma laughed at Paul's lame attempt at trying to get Est to react. "Fool! You think that is going to get a reaction from her? Perhaps if you put more emotion into your words maybe it will reach her!"

"I didn't think Paul would be able to do much anyway." Iris snarked.

"I don't think your words are good taste for this situation Iris…" Cilan mumbled as he hid behind her. Nope, he wasn't going to deal with these ghosts at all.

What else could Paul do? Est was more trouble than she was worth, but she saved his life when he was helpless and even attempted to cheer him up. If the Pokémon were any use in this battle, he could easily blaze through the competition.

Virtue managed to dodge all the flaming pumpkins his way. They started shooting bullet flames and even though his scarf nearly caught fire, he was surprised it was still in one piece. He had to project his voice over to Paul who could stop Alma at the very least while he distracted Alastor.

"Paul, keep calling out to her! I'm sure she hears every word you said!"

The Sinnoh trainer wasn't convinced. Ilyana would do better at waking Est up unless…

"Alma listen to me, you have to stop!" Virtue called out again. "Darlene and Dusk wouldn't want this!"

"What would you know?! You weren't even there!"

"No…I wasn't when those two got together…but Alma, you have to remember something…you didn't give Dusk the chance to tell you his feelings."

"What are you talking about?"

"I wasn't there when they hooked up, but I saw how conflicted Dusk was. He was too scared to reject you because he didn't want to lose the friendship you two had. Darlene was understanding and tried to help before it ended up being this complicated!"

Alma shook her head. "That's just a cop out." She glared at Paul who intended to move out of the safeguard to speak to her. "Besides, that boy is no different from Dusk."

"Est!" Ilyana called out. "Please come back to us! You're my friend and guardian! You can't lose here!"

"Of course not!" Est responded immediately before Alma took control just as quickly. This girl was obsessed with the big breasted woman so of course she wanted to react.

"Est," Paul continued. "We just met, so I don't expect you to listen, but I want you to think what you must do. Losing is not one of them." He then focused on Alma instead. "And you…why would you pester someone into loving you when he didn't return the feelings. Would you not be happy just with friendship or is there something else?"

Alma glared at him. "What are you suggesting?"

"…"

"You have nothing, do you?"

"…Can you remember when this Dusk person hurt you?" He asked. "What exactly did he say to justify your suicide and his murder?"

The ghost girl flinched at the suggestion.

"Did Dusk really deserve to die…or were you just spiteful?"

"H-How dare you suggest that I killed him because I was jealous! He betrayed me!"

Despite her protests though, Est saw an opening from the inside. No normal human would be able to see the memories of a ghost, but she saw it clearly.

Alma did not have happy memories in that mansion. The twin's parents said they would come back for them after they were finished with work. They never returned leaving the two to the mansion where the bills would slowly start to pile up if nothing was done. Alastor was not aware of the collective debt obtained over time, so the suicide came off as a way to escape. Est didn't want to think this though and proceeded to pry to the moment when the twins became friends with Virtue (who was very much their sugar daddy without him realizing it) and later Dusk and Darlene.

The more Est watched these happy memories, the more she realized that Alma put Dusk between a rock and a hard place. Dusk was older than Alma at the time. He did not like the girl jumping on him and making sexual advances at her young age. He was uncomfortable with the situation she was putting him in. Darlene in contrast was incredibly patient with the twins especially Alma when she threw her temper tantrums.

The little ghost girl was just a tragic figure who wanted to grow up as fast as possible and if she could date an older male to take care of her then things would be fine. This could explain why she didn't care about Alastor's growing affection for a man who was way older than him and the pedophile tendencies Virtue showed back until after Alma caught Dusk throwing himself onto Darlene for comfort because of her unwanted harassment. Perhaps if this little girl was a little older, things would have gone differently, but as it stands now, Dusk had every right to reject her due to the sexual intimacy she was forcing on him in the same vain to what she did to Paul.

Est laughed seeing Alma being the one pushed back that it was almost pitiful. The more she saw in that moment, the more Est regained the strength to fight back. Alma screamed feeling Est's willpower overpower her vengeful soul.

"Look at you…you delusional little girl." Est mumbled taking back her voice. "You are a selfish little girl who did not bother to get the other side of the story. You only cared about yourself and you have the audacity to claim victimhood."

"S-Shut up! Stay silent you little turd!" Alma cried as she backed up scaring her brother seeing that the stronger one of the two was losing control.

"For 100 years Virtue has tried to apologize. For 100 years, your friends wanted you and your brother to move on, but you kept killing time and time again. You claim you don't care if they hate you for what you have done, but guess what? Deep down, you know they don't. You just don't want to admit that you were wrong and dragged everyone down your inane path."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"'

"No! I won't shut up! This is my body, and I am disgusted that you used it to fulfill your sexual fantasies that you couldn't do when you are alive. You do not get the moral high ground to berate Virtue when you go off and do the exact thing that drove your twin to suicide! Don't lecture me about my faults either when you can't even admit your own! I will not let you stay in my body! Get out!"

Alma tried her best to keep Est under control, but there was a reason why she was an apprentice to the Melphisto family. Her witch outfit was not for show as her eyes glowed. The vengeful spirit could no longer stay in a body that resisted and was brutally rejected with a scream of terror that rang into everyone's ears. With Alma purged, Est could only smirk as she moved her hands slowly.

"…This is my body…and I will never forgive you for making me lose my virginity…" Est growled as she looked at her hand before turning to Trip. "Alastor, you're going to get out of Trip's body or be exorcised!"

Alastor couldn't believe his sister lost. He backed up with only the fake Pokémon on his end to support him.

"No…I don't want to be a spirit again…no…Alma…no!"

The ghost Pokémon couldn't maintain their pumpkin shape and ended up bursting into flames that targeted Virtue's Pokémon. This flame was different and went past Ninetales' special ability to absorb fire. Noctowl in comparison flew over the flames, but since the burst felt like a heat wave, there was no point. The two Pokémon went back to the ghost hunter.

"You two okay?" Virtue asked with a hint of worry. He got a quick nod as a response. "Good." He turned to Ash who seemed lost at what just occurred with Est. It was a small victory that allowed the group some time to rest, but at the same time Ash needed to think of a plan to get to Trip. Alastor made sure to push Est back with his magic sending her flying. She hummed though that her head landed in between Ilyana's boobs.

"Please get off…" The shy purple haired girl muttered but Est was in heaven.

"I survived and am rewarded…yay…"

The brunette wanted them to focus on Trip's body though. Alastor wasn't that good with magic in comparison to Alma. The flames might backfire if this continued.

"Ash I hope you know my Pokémon are at their limit. Make it quick!"

Virtue's words fell on death ears though. Ash didn't care if Virtue's Pokémon were going to faint at any moment. His mind was on Trip who needed to wake up. If Est who was subjected to the stronger twin longer managed to break free, then Trip could fight back too. He needed to think but there wasn't much time.

"Virtue, I will kill you!" Alastor declared.

"Dammit…" Virtue cursed as he took out his Pokéball ready to call his Pokémon back so they wouldn't get attacked.

Ash closed his eyes trying to think of a plan. The only image that came to mind was when a possessed Trip came onto him and kissed him. The Kanto trainer still didn't understand the implications of those actions and since it wasn't trip who instigated the kiss, it wouldn't count. Perhaps that's what needed to be done calm Alastor down if he wanted the affection of an older male.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Iris called out seeing Ash suddenly charge at Trip. "Get back here! He'll kill you!"

"Trip…I won't let that ghost force you to hurt people with your own hands!" Ash declared. "What happened in the past…you shouldn't have to suffer because of what they did!"

Alastor immediately felt a jolt in his body. Trip could hear Ash's voice and was responding accordingly.

"No…stay back…this body…"

Alastor didn't put much of a fight in comparison to his sister who used all the magic she could to drive the enemy away. Trip was too strong for him and it showed if he couldn't even keep up the magic resistance. Ash made it to the male ghost with no problem and quickly hugged the young boy.

"Trip…I'm sorry I'm late. I'm not doing a good job with this rescue mission. When you come back, I'll do better next time."

"…No…you're not…"

Ash could hear the snarkiness in Trip's voice. He was winning and just needed an extra push.

"Stop! This body…I need it."

"No…you don't! Get out!"

Trip's body trembled in Ash's arms. He was ready for the next act. The raven haired teen took a deep breath as he seized the sides of the photographer's cheek and gave him a passionate kiss. He had no idea how this kiss thing worked anyway, so he tried to repeat the incident from the bedroom. Alastor did not know how to react to this apparent idiot showing Trip affection. The dirty blonde knew what he wanted. His body glowed a bright color and almost immediately a spirit was forced out. Alastor cries could be heard the minute he was ejected but Trip didn't care in that moment. He was quick to wrap his arms around the Kanto trainer and return the feverish kiss. Ash pulled back though surprised.

"You're not Alastor are you…"

"…Idiot! You think I wouldn't want that?" He questioned his cheeks slowly lighting up the longer Ash stared at him with a dazed expression. "Dammit…you better take responsibility for that since you instigated that."

"Take responsibility for what?"

Why did Trip think he would have anything romantic happen with this dumbass? He let go and pushed Ash away who was still confused. Yeah he solved the problem quickly because of not thinking, but he still didn't realize the implication.

I don't want to wait eight years. Trip grumbled to himself seeing as how Ash did not seem to understand how Unova customs worked.

You would think though that the others would bring up the kiss and mock the two, but their attention was toward Alastor's spirit that sided with Alma's. The souls of the twins aviated toward another portion of the room. Ilyana was prepared to attack what was left of the evil twins. Virtue extended his arm out to her signaling the girl that everything was over.

"Virtue?"

"It's alright now…" He said with a faint smile. "I can handle this…"

The brunette turned back toward the direction the souls flew to and slowly made his way toward the shelf with Pokédolls. The entire shelf that wasn't harmed during the battle were all ghost Pokémon particularly Gengar, Rotom and Litwick. Virtue picked up the two Litwick dolls and embraced them knowing full well that the souls were lingering inside of the dolls.

"Alma…Alastor…I'm so sorry…"

The room was voiceless originally. The twins did not intend to respond to Virtue's apology. They were going to be stubborn until the end. What was he expecting from these crazy twins that would blame everything on him?

_Why are you apologizing?_

Virtue looked at the dolls surprised hearing Alastor's voice.

_We're both at fault…_

_You don't speak for me Alastor!_

_Sis…we lost…and you know we were wrong from the beginning…_

"You two don't need to apologize."

 _I'M NOT APOLOGIZING!_ Alma shouted to the point where everyone could hear her even though she was a soul without a physical body at this point. _Why should I apologize! After so many years of isolation I thought I found someone I could love! How was I repaid? Everyone betrayed me whom I thought I could call a friend! What was I supposed to do?! That's why we killed ourselves! We had nothing left after we both lost our loved ones and we still couldn't move on even in death!_

"Alma…"

I don't want your pity. Alma mumbled. You will never forgive me for all the things I have done. Virtue noticed that Alma was referring to herself instead of speaking for both her and Alastor. Unlike Al…I didn't have hope…and I dragged him down.

_Sis…I never thought…_

_Stop! I know what I did was wrong…I took advantage of your despair…and turned you into someone you would never want to be. The doll that she possessed started to rattle as an evil laugh echoed the room. We're both going to hell because of me. We're going to hell because we didn't cling to hope. We're going to hell because I was…_

_Stop it!_

Now the other doll was rattling. The sudden shout surprised the female twin.

_…You are not the only one at fault. I was foolish…as well…that's why I'm going with you to hell. We both deserve it. I mean we both harmed the trainers that came through the mansion and their Pokémon. It's only natural to be smothered in fire and brimstone or put in freezing water for our punishment._

"Alma…Alastor…"

The twins noticed something wet fell on the doll. This shouldn't be possible since the doll wasn't alive. Yet, they could feel something on the top of the candles. The stoic exorcist in front of them was slowly losing his façade that he kept for so long.

"I'm so sorry…if only I had reached out to you and not have my lust take over you two wouldn't have killed yourselves…and maybe Dawn and Darlene…"

"Virtue…there was nothing you could do." Ilyana suddenly spoke. Her voice suddenly low and serious compared to her normally withdrawn voice that would be easy to ignore. This caused Virtue and the twins to look her direction. "You apologize and come up with all of these what if scenarios. But the past is the past and you can't undo it. Believe me, I think there would be many people that would love to turn back time to prevent tragedy from striking…but we suffer for our mistakes…but we also move on. If we are stuck in the past, we cannot achieve enlightenment…or that's what my father use to tell me."

"Auntie…" Trip mumbled weakly. He had never seen his aunt give a motivation speech like this in his life. Judging from Est's expression, Ilyana had never been able to speak up for herself at all.

It wasn't long before one of the Litwick dolls started to rattle again.

_Oh look. Ms. Jiggles actually said something intelligent that we both already know. Not going to change anything now, so might as well go to hell with a huge smile on our faces._

"Alma…"

_Come on. Chin up. We might see each other again…if you go to hell with us…heh heh…_

She was trying to lighten the mood with her dark humor but was failing miserably. She sounded terrified at the fate that was going to befall her and her brother…but with the sins they committed, there was nothing to do.

 _…You should go._ Alastor spoke in a voice that sounded like he was submitting himself to his cruel end. _The mansion will fall apart like it was supposed to when we died. If you don't leave, we can't guarantee your safety…_

Virtue didn't want to leave…even if the mansion was slowly shaking and the roof was slowly crumbling to nothing. Now that he made up with them, why did he have to leave? It wasn't fair!

"Okay…"

That wasn't what he wanted to say as he put the dolls back on the shelf. Cilan was already leading the girls out while Paul was waiting for Ash and Trip to hurry along. Ash was looking back at the exorcist who looked like he wanted to stay behind. Then he slowly stepped back.

"So…I guess…this is good-bye…"

Flipping his scarf behind him, he slowly turned around and ordered everyone to leave the room and head for the exit. Virtue did not look back after his good-byes. The twins waited until everyone was gone before everything around them collapses.

_Al…_

_Yes sis?_

_It's funny…after killing people for so long that when death is finally ready to come for us…I'm scared._

_…I'm scared too sis…but you're not alone…we're not alone…_

The spirits could be seen hovering over the Litwick dolls. Despite their confession of fear, both had a contempt smile on their face. With their eyes closed, they could imagine a happier time before the drama began. Before the backstabbing and misunderstandings destroyed their only hope in life and how they all lived happily ever after.

Yes…if they were going to die, they would die with blissful memories.

_We may not be able to go back to those wonderful days, but we can remember them forever…and ever…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: TBC with 7169 words. A reminder that the summary is the same because I originally split the chapter into two. Notes!
> 
> 1\. Originally I was going to make up some Pokémon designs for the magic Alma and Alastor used but since Pokémon XY is out with some ghost Pokémon for Halloween, might as well use them. They're Pumpkaboo specifically.
> 
> 2\. There are subtle hints to Virtue realizing that something is wrong with him. Since I finished the epilogue first, I didn't add it however, I decided that this could foreshadow the epilogue instead.
> 
> 3\. As mentioned above this chapter was going to be just one but I split it for an update, but got lazy. As a result, the lack of a real final battle stems from the fact that there was no point in Ash's group fighting when it was about taming the spirits and showing how powerful Est and Trip were while giving some ship tease moments between the ones who help them out. So I apologize if you people expected a drawn out final battle.


	9. Rest in Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle is over and the twins and everyone they killed can rest in peace. Virtue however has given the ultimate sacrifice in order to insure that they both made it to Heaven…

The group finally escaped from mansion after their rescue mission. The minute the group rushed out, the mansion began to crumble. After more than 100 years of standing and the twins no longer roaming the area, there was nothing to support an old building that was never touched upon. The Pokémon battle didn't help either…

The group watched as the mansion fell to the ground causing dust to pick up and mix with the fog.

"Looks like the mansion couldn't hold itself up anymore after the twins **spirited** away. Get it?" Est tried to joke to lighten the situation.

The group either sighed or face palm, but Trip just told her what she didn't want to hear.

"That wasn't a funny joke Est. Please respect the dead."

"Oh come on! After nearly getting killed multiple times in the spam of a few days and seeing too many dead bodies, I think a joke is what is needed!"

"Est, a moment of silence at least." Ilyana added.

"Okay…"

Est's Zorua just chuckled underneath her hat causing her to pout. The little fox did nothing during the final battle but had the audacity to laugh at her.

"So…is it finally over?" Dawn had to ask glancing at the crumbled mansion once more. "We won't have to worry about the twins coming back to kill us again, right?"

Virtue shook his head sadly. "No, they're gone…" He looked sadly at his Ninetales and Noctowl who stared at their trainer with deep sorrow. "And that means…my job is done…"

Ash and co didn't understand what Virtue said until he started to decay in front of them. Dawn and Ilyana ended up shrieking at Virtue's handsome appearance starting to rot. Everyone else was speechless at the turn of events.

"Virtue, what is happening?" Ash questioned horrified. "What is going on with your body?"

"…It means my time in this world is up now that my friends can rest in peace…"

"W-Wait, you can't die now! Not after that promise you made to them!" Est exclaimed. "You're not going to break it off now are you?!"

Virtue just laughed as half of his face fell to the ground along with the middle of his chest (but this portion was covered by his red vest). "They already knew that I was at the end. I was already twenty-four when they cursed me to roam the earth until the day they could ever find peace. 100 years later and they finally find their peace…but me…I spent the next 100 years trying to find ways for them to open up and see the truth…and every time I tried with trainers that were waiting for the Unova League…it ended in tragedy…" He laughed bitterly at himself when he thought of all the instances where he promised these talented young trainers secrets for beating the Unova League and other lies only for their deaths to be in vein.

"Wait…so those bodies in that trap…" Cilan started.

"Those are only a few of the trainers that foolishly went in without the warning. Other trainers made it to the twins and were either tortured to death or their bodies taken, but like all bodies, they don't last forever and the twins needed to keep the masquerade of twins so more often than not, they needed trainers that either looked similar or were related to help them out…and I was foolish to help them in their plan because I thought the people they needed for their bodies could allow them to see the truth…but I realized that wasn't what would bring them to light."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"…What Alma and Alastor needed to see a group of friends that cared for each other and would risk their lives for one another, even putting their life on the line. And…they needed to hear it from me that I would never abandon them…and that the whole incident was a misunderstanding on Darlene's part. I honestly wanted what was the best for them and all my friends, but Alma didn't see it that way…100 years made me realize how much of a fool I am…and that's why…" He looked at his hands as they slowly corroded. "I'll take their place in repaying their sins that they committed."

The group gasped when he said that.

"You can't go to hell for them!" Est declared. "They won't learn their lesson if you take their place."

"…I know them best." Virtue insisted. "And I know that by facing my sins, they'll be able to rest in peace."

"But…"

He weakly bowed to Ilyana who started to cry for his sake. "I'm sorry you have to go through this Ilyana. I'm going to have to cancel that date."

"…"

"Ash…Paul…"

His expression darkened as he spoke but it slowly became a sad smile that was aimed at them. "Make sure the vows you made in the mansion will never be broken. The twins may rest now, but who knows what would happen if they found out that you broke the promises made."

The two male trainers were silent at his words. Paul didn't know if he could keep that promise at all, but he knew that because of Virtue's old friend Dusk, breaking a promise to a girl especially one like Alma would end horribly. Ash wouldn't have to worry about a vengeful ghost coming back to kill him because everyone knew that it would take a while for Ash to understand the vow that he made.

"…I think…my time is up…farewell…" He looked toward his Pokémon who wanted to go with him but he shook his head. "Ninetales…Noctowl, thank you for everything…when all my Pokémon died from age, you still stayed by my side even though you knew this day would come…thank you…and good-bye…"

Virtue's body decomposed at a faster rate before he just fell apart in front of the group. Ilyana called his name but he was no longer of this world. The only thing he left her was a bracelet that he gave Alastor years ago as a sign of his love. Now, he has passed it on to her despite only knowing each other for a few days.

"Oh Virtue…" She whispered as she fell to her knees sobbing into the bracelet he gave her.

"Ilyana…" Est mumbled as she closed her eyes knowing no matter what she said wouldn't change anything.

Ash and the group were speechless on what transpired in front of them. Not knowing what to do, Meloetta appeared before the group again with a worried expression. The only thing that Meloetta could think of doing was singing a melancholic tune. The music flowed through the sky where the sun was rising. No one said a word as they let Meloetta sing her song. Virtue's Pokémon howled or hooted with Meloetta as if they were singing along. Trip looked up to the sky and thought these words.

_Virtue…thank you…_

* * *

Virtue opened his eyes thinking he was going to be in the depths of hell at this point. Instead he found himself in a checkered room that alternated between gold and white. Slowly getting up, he realized that his body was restored to normal and he looked the same as he's always been for 100 years.

"What is…?"

"Hello~" Came a voice. Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw a young boy with blonde hair and green eyes. He was dressed in a sophisticated fashion, but despite his rich appearance, he looked friendly enough…if it weren't for that mischievous smile plastered on his face. "Welcome to the Golden Land where your dreams come true~"

Virtue was confused. Wasn't he supposed to go to hell after confessing his sins that he hid from the world? The boy smiled as he continued speaking.

"You must be thinking why you're here instead of the Underworld. Well, the problem is that the Underworld is currently in a middle of a civil war because of the angels so I made it my goal to take souls here first before deciding if they get to go to heaven or hell."

"Wha…"

"Why can't you just say its Purgatory, Prism?"

Next to the blonde kid was a young girl around his age with long black hair and purple eyes. Her entire outfit consisted of a raven motif and unlike Prism she wasn't all smiles.

"Oh Raven, the Golden Land sounds better than that name."

"It's copyright."

"Who are you to break the fourth wall now?!"

"Uh…"

The two kids turned their attention to the newcomer. Raven just sighed as she took the seat next to Prism.

"Well, you know our names. I'm Prism, the Sorcerer of Misfortune and this is Raven the Witch of Despair. We're just going to tell you this now; you won't have to worry about going to hell now."

"Why? I-"

"Apparently getting a bunch of kids killed and participating in sexual acts with a child doesn't mean a thing to Prism." Raven responded sarcastically. "Then again, he's mad."

"No, I just wanted to give you guys a happy ending while you still have the chance."

"…What do you mean?" Virtue continued to ask confused by everything.

Prism shook his head as he snapped his fingers. "No one goes to the angels, no one goes to the demons. They come to the witches and sorcerers. Your friends are right behind this door."

Virtue didn't see the door until Prism clapped his hands. When he did, a golden and blue door was coming out of the ground and when it opened, Virtue could see his friends on the other side speaking to one another on friendly terms as if the tragedy never happened. Was this real or was it a trick?

"When you go through here, you will be able to meet with your friends and rest in peace." Prism told him. "You can apologize all you want and recreate the friendship that was lost between you."

"…Why are you doing this?" Virtue suddenly asked. "Why are you giving a sinner like me another chance?! I don't deserve a happy ending!"

"Of course you don't." Raven said cruelly. "But it's Prism's decision…he may be the Sorcerer of Misfortune but he's going to give you a good fortune."

Prism just sighed as he handwaved Raven's statement. "You're putting too much into this."

"I have every right too! I killed many trainers trying to save my friends! I took advantage of a little boy for my own sexual lust and I broke the heart of an innocent in my last moments! Why do I get to go to them? That's all I'm asking."

"Because everyone gets a second chance." Prism said with an innocent smile. "You may think that going to hell will solve everything, but your friends would still be sad, and then they wouldn't be happy in heaven. They need you Virtue. You were their support back then, and you will be in the afterlife. Don't ask why you're given a second chance of life, just take it."

Virtue still had his doubts about the sorcerer, but he sounded so sincere compared to his moody friend. Taking a deep breath, he slowly walked toward the door. The closer he got to the door, the voices of his friends got louder. The voices of his friends telling him that everything will be okay and that they'll start over again. Getting his foot at the door, he felt the breeze coming from the other side.

"Alastor…Alma…Dusk…Darlene…I'll be with you all soon…" He looked toward Prism who was still smiling. "…Thank you…"

Virtue walked through the door where his friends were waiting for him. The door closed instantly as Raven shook her head instantly.

"You are the most cruel yet merciful of all the witches and sorcerers in the universe." Raven mumbled as the smile on Prism's face fell. "You could have let him and his friends go to hell for all their sins given that none of them would have made it to Angel Land."

"Hey, what did I say about mentioning Angel Land. This is a Pokémon story, not a Kid Icarus one."

"Now who's breaking the 4th wall?" Prism sighed when Raven wasn't going to talk unless he gave her an answer to why he what he just did. The raven haired teen already knew why though, and that meant the only people who didn't know were the ones ringing the story. Prism ended looking up toward the text and continued to smile sheepishly.

"I bet you all want to know what I just did. Well, to answer your question simply, I'm erasing Virtue and his group out of existence in this particular universe. That way, Ash and the group won't have to worry about a promise being broken and that the tragedy won't happen again at least not in Unova. Virtue and his friends won't know that because they will spend eternity repairing the friendship over the years, and this time, no one will bug them…and it will be like that until the end of time. This is my cruel mercy to Virtue and his friends. Then again, the Virtue in this universe is completely different from the Virtue I know, and getting rid of this one will help rebuild the other."

"No one goes to hell," Raven continued, "but they'll forever live in ignorance to mend their friendship. I personally would have gave them the depressing ending of them all being separated after death, but Prism decided to go with this ending, so I don't have a saying in it."

Prism chuckled as he snapped his fingers causing the door to go back into the floor.

"…This is why…you don't listen to the Sorcerer of Misfortune, but whether or not Virtue's end was good or bad is up to you readers. So, it's time to end the journey here." The blonde sorcerer finished as he crossed his legs while sitting on his throne like chair. "You'll be seeing me more often when a story is about life and death. After all, the Golden Land is the center of the universe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Done with 3238 words. Oh look, Prism and Raven hijacked the ending with 4th wall breaking! Notes!
> 
> 1\. Est's joke is a pun from the name of the mansion. I don't think I need to explain the joke because it's not funny.
> 
> 2\. Ash's group doesn't seem to have a resolution in this story, but that's mainly because the reader is supposed to imagine what they did after they finished mourning for Virtue who saved their lives. Given how Pokémon movie ends though, you can assume that Ash, Iris and Cilan split from the rest of the group given this is the point where Dawn would stop following the group. Trip, Est and Ilyana need to go back to Lacunosa town to take Ilyana back home and Dawn and Paul are traveling together until the Unova League starts. Ash, Iris and Cilan are walking into the plot of the Team Rocket plot at this point.
> 
> 3\. The door that shows Virtue's friends is gold and blue. The door is gold because I would like to think purgatory is whitish/gold color while blue represents the virtue that Virtue represents (as joked in a previous chapter). Again, Virtue might represent the sin of lust, but his virtue is patience.
> 
> 4\. Prism and Raven are characters I use only for my Kid Icarus/Disgaea universe. They are only two of the most powerful beings in the universe. In fact, I established that witches and sorcerers are stronger than the Gods and Goddesses as they have powers to things that Gods and Goddesses can never grasp. The example is that Prism is the Sorcerer of Misfortune who works in reverse to Bernkastel as he is meant to bring misfortune but given he's a good person despite his extreme attitude he brings good fortune and offers a positive alternative after death. Raven is the Witch of Despair and spreads sorrow across the galaxy as well as gives the cruel facts of life. Her powers are also associated with time.
> 
> 5\. I pretty much implied that this is not the Virtue established in the Disgaea/Kid Icarus universe. My theory that I had was that Prism decided to screw with Virtue's life but accidentally pulled his soul out, so before he could restore Virtue back to his original state, he had to make the other Virtue he created atone for crimes. Prism as a result portrays Virtue as a pedophile and while Virtue is a sex maniac, he is far from being a pedophile. Prism is just projecting his hate on him.


End file.
